Coincide
by thisis-A
Summary: When Ezra and Aria meet at a bar, they instantly become infatuated with each other. But Aria already has history with another boy in Rosewood; a history that resulted in her three month old son. Could this relationship ever work, or are their worlds simply too different? AU. High T rating!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! I hope you like this new story, it's still in the early stages of writing but I like how it's going! Please let me know what you think:)**

 **Chapter One**

"Where's daddy, huh?" Aria asked in a high pitched baby voice, staring into Nathan's big brown eyes. "Is daddy late?" She carried on, holding the three month old close to her chest. "Yes, daddy's late again. Daddy asks mommy to take baby to a bar, and then daddy's late to pick baby up, even though daddy knows that-"

"Aria." A familiar voice called, and Aria snapped her head up.

"Noel, what took you so long?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm in front of Nathan.

"Chill out, I'm here aren't I?" Noel dismissed as he stalked over to Aria and the baby. He picked up Nathan awkwardly and put him into the stroller, looking around to make sure there was no one they knew. Aria crouched down to look Nathan in the eye.

"Have a nice time at daddy's baby, mommy will pick you up on Sunday." She said, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"What? You want me to have the kid all weekend?" Noel asked, outraged.

"Noel, that's what we agreed. I have work Saturday. I'll pick him up first thing Sunday."

"There's a big game this Saturday, I was going to go to the lake house with the boys." Noel argued frustratedly.

"You haven't had him in weeks, you should _want_ to spend time with your son."

"Don't try and guilt trip me, Aria."  
"I'm _not_ trying to guilt trip you, Noel, but-"

"Whatever, I'll get my mom to have him Saturday night. See you Sunday." He said, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Aria called out urgently.

"What?" Noel smirked, confident that she would offer to have Nathan on Saturday.

"You forgot his changing bag. He has three outfits and pyjamas in there." She said, handing it over. "And his milk." She added, retrieving her pre-prepared breast milk from her purse. Noel looked at her as if she just handed him a bottle of dirty lake water.  
"That's disgusting, why can't I just give him formula?"

"Because he's used to breast milk, he'll just reject form-"

"Okay, okay, Jesus Christ. Can I go now?" He asked impatiently.

"Before he goes to bed put the milk in the microwave on low heat for twenty seconds. He likes being read to at night, something with a regular rhythm like _Goodnight Moon_ or anything Dr. Suess. He's getting good at holding his head up, he can go it for up-"

"Okay, we're out of here." Noel said, turning the stroller round. "Say bye-bye to mommy, Nathan." He said in a monotone voice, walking out of the bar and leaving Aria alone on her stool. She immediately felt empty without Nathan, and didn't know what to do with herself.

"Hi, I'll have a coffee please." She said to the bartender. "Decaf." She added, remembering that she was still breastfeeding.

"You okay down there?"

Aria looked up from her drink to see a young man at the other end of the bar, holding his book open in place with his thumb. He must have come in just after Noel left, as she had previously been the only person there. He smiled warmly at her.

"I'm okay, just a little tired." She smiled back.  
"Late night?" He asked knowingly, nodding his head towards her coffee. He was kind and gentle looking, with soft brown curls and bright blue eyes. His smile comforted Aria, and she felt herself compelled towards this mysterious stranger.

"You could say that." She nodded, deciding it wasn't necessary to mention that her late night was due to a crying baby. "You're reading Ulysses?" She observed, gesturing towards his open book.

"I am. Well, re-reading. I thought I better get reacquainted before I teach it." He explained, flipping through the well thumbed pages.

"You teach?" Aria asked, impressed.

"Not yet. Monday is my first day."

"Good luck, you're going to need it." She laughed.

"Thanks, I have a feeling you're right. Teenagers are brutal, right?" He asked.

"Brutal." Aria agreed, despite the fact that she herself was a teenager. She couldn't place her finger on it, but there was something about this man that she was drawn to. She had been talking to him for all of forty seconds, but she was already craving to know more about him. Little did she know, he was feeling exactly the same way.

"I'm Ezra, by the way." He said.  
"I'm Aria." She replied, smiling softly.

"Aria." Ezra repeated, saying it gently as if it was a litany. Aria's stomach fluttered upon hearing her name come from his lips. Aria let out a yawn.

"Do you want another coffee?" Ezra offered.

"Um… I'll just have some water, thank you." Aria said appreciatively, avoiding having to explain why she needed decaffeinated coffee.

Aria and Ezra stayed talking for over three hours. They discovered that they had the same taste in literature, film, music, art, travel, even food. Well, Aria was a headstrong vegetarian and Ezra was partial to a good steak, but they both loved Indian and Thai food. They both had an interest in philosophy and both believed in socialism. They were both passionate about social justice and equal rights, and even discovered that they were at the same protest against anti-abortion laws. Aria tactfully steered conversation away whenever the topic of age came up, and she managed to avoid mentioning the fact that not twenty minutes before Ezra arrived she had been breastfeeding her young baby. There hadn't been a single lull in conversation, and they were only interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.

"Hello?" Aria answered once she realised it was her phone.

"He won't stop crying. I've done everything. I gave him milk, I played with him, I even changed his diaper. What do I do?" Noel's tired voice rang out through the phone. Aria sighed and looked over to Ezra.  
"I'm sorry, I need to take this." She apologised. Ezra nodded in an understanding way and went back to his book, giving Aria her privacy.

"Who are you speaking to?" Noel asked accusingly.

"Just someone I met." Aria said dismissively. "I put a blanket in his changing bag, it's the yellow one from the hospital. Give it to him, and if it doesn't work put a sprinkle of baby powder on it." She instructed once she had got out of Ezra's ear shot. She heard rustling on the other end of the phone, and finally she heard Nathan's crying subside. After Noel hung up (without so much as a goodbye) Aria was suddenly hit with the reality of her situation. Was she kidding herself with Ezra? Their compare and contrast really was quite striking. Sure, they had the same views and interests and opinions, but on the surface? He was a twenty six year old English teacher, and she was a sixteen year old mother. Of course, she was being ludicrous. There was no way he could possibly be interested once he found that out. Maybe she should just hook up with him in the bathroom and be done with it. No, that wasn't what she wanted and she knew it. She wanted a genuine, authentic emotional connection with him- she wanted to hear his thoughts and feelings, she wanted to talk to him and listen to him. But that couldn't happen. She needed to end this before she fell too deep.

"I'm sorry, Ezra, I need to go." Aria said, picking up her purse.

"Maybe we could meet up again?" Ezra suggested.

"Yeah, maybe." Aria nodded, but she left without giving a number or any form of contact information. Ezra sat alone in the bar, crestfallen. Was it something he said? He had thought they were getting on so well. She was fascinating; intelligent, funny, thoughtful, kind and breathtakingly beautiful. Was it because he wasn't a vegetarian? He _could_ be a vegetarian. Wait, he needed to calm down. He met this girl less than four hours and he was considering giving up meat for her? Maybe it was best she left, he was falling way too hard way too fast. Perhaps, if it was meant to be, their paths will cross again.

 **Please let me know whether you're interested in this story, and give any suggestions you have! Thank you, and hope you enjoyed:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N): I'd just like to say thank you so so much for all of the reviews, they mean so much to me! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Chapter Two**

"Apparently the new teacher is really hot." Hanna gushed to Spencer and Emily as they walked into the classroom. As soon as they got a glimpse of Mr Fitz their jaws dropped to the floor; this teacher wasn't just hot, this teacher was absolutely _gorgeous_. They shared a glance as they took their seats, smiling to each other about the fact that they will be able to stare at him all year long.

"Hello, class, my name is Mr Fitz. Is everybody here?" He asked.

"This is everyone." Spencer affirmed efficiently.

"How about this seat?" Mr Fitz asked, pointing towards the empty seat two from the window.

"That was Aria's seat, she doesn't go here anymore." Spencer informed.

"Aria?" Ezra whispered. _The_ Aria? The Aria who he hadn't been able to get out of his mind all weekend? Well, who else? How many Aria's were there in Rosewood? He had a lot of information to process. The girl he was infatuated with was a _student._ A sixteen year old _student._ She would have been _his_ student, but now (through fate? coincidence? irony?) she wasn't, leaving just an empty desk taunting him of the situation. He needed to find out more, but by now his students were looking at him strangely, wondering why he was so perplexed by the notion that there was a girl who used to be there who is not anymore.

"Okay, um… let's get started."

"You know, it's a shame Aria's not here, she'd be all over Fitz." Spencer joked as the girls walked home.

"Are you kidding? It's a blessing! It gives the rest of us a chance." Hanna wiggled her eyebrows.

"Hanna, that's so creepy, he's a teacher!." Emily shuddered.

"If you were straight you'd understand." Hanna tutted, receiving glares from Emily and Spencer.

"Speaking of Aria," Spencer said, reverting the conversation back. "we should probably visit her soon."  
"Yeah, we haven't been great aunties recently." Emily agreed guiltily.

In the beginning all three girls were regular visitors to Aria and Nathan, they even joked that he'd be able to say 'aunty' before he could say 'daddy'. As the months went on, however, their visits became more sporadic. What with summer and boyfriends/girlfriends and getting ready for junior year, they suddenly became far too busy. It wasn't that they didn't want to see them; they loved Nathan and of course Aria was one of their best friends, but they just couldn't find the time.

"Maybe we could go see them this evening?" Spencer suggested.

"I'll ring her." Hanna said, getting out her phone.

"Hey Han!" Aria greeted in a hushed voice as she picked up the phone.

"Hello? Aria? Are you there?" Hanna shouted down the phone.

"I'm here, Nathan's asleep in my arms so I need to be quiet." Aria explained in a whisper.

"I can call back later if this isn't a good time?" Hanna offered.

"No, it's fine, what's up?" Aria asked as she rocked Nathan back and forth.

"I'm with Em and Spence, we were just wondering if you were free for us to come round later?"  
"That would be great! What time?" She asked enthusiastically; she loved Nathan with all her heart but sometimes three month olds weren't the best company.

"How's seven?" Hanna proposed.

"Seven's great." Aria confirmed with a big smile.

"Hey there, sleepyhead!" Aria said as Nathan opened his eyes. "Did you have a nice nap?" She asked. Nathan cracked a smile and Aria's heart melted; how did she make something so gorgeous?

"Guess what, Nathy? Your aunties are coming over later!" She cooed, earning another smile. "Shall we go buy some snacks?" She asked, as she realised that all she had to offer was bottled breast milk and teething gel. Her parents had taken Mike on vacation for a week, so Aria was home alone with Nathan, and she often forgot to feed herself. She took Nathan over to his changing table to put on a fresh diaper and some warmer clothes to go outside in and gave him a quick feeding before heading out the door. On her way out she caught her reflection in the hallway mirror; she _definitely_ needed to put some makeup on before the girls arrived. 2 hours of sleep was _not_ a good look on her. Oh well, it would have to wait till she got back from the store.

Once she arrived she very carefully placed Nathan on the child seat of the cart, laying him on his back with his favourite blanket as padding. After snapping a quick picture of him (What? He looked adorable!) she set off down the supermarket looking for something the girls would enjoy. As she walked down the aisle she tried for what felt like the millionth time to push Ezra out of her mind. _Let. It. Go. It was never going to work. He'd find out about Nathan, or your age, and run a mile_ she told herself whilst she put some hummus into the basket.

"Aria?"

Her head instinctively rose like a flash at the sound of the voice she couldn't stop thinking about all weekend.

"Ezra." Aria said in little more than a whisper. The two stood silently staring at each other for a while, before Ezra finally spoke again.

"How… how are you?" He asked.

"I'm good, thank you, how are you?" She replied.

"I'm good!" He said instantly, nodding his head and smiling in an attempt to convey that he _wasn't_ thinking about her 24/7.

"So… how was your first day of teaching?" Aria asked. Ezra was about to reply when a small cry came from Aria's shopping trolley. Ezra looked at the cart, confused, and then looked to Aria, who had gone bright red.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." She said quickly, walking away at lightening speed. As she turned the corner Ezra caught sight of a tiny baby lying in the seat of the trolley.

"Holy crap." He whispered to himself. She had a kid! _That's_ why she wasn't at school anymore! Who was the father? Was she still _with_ the father? Ezra suddenly felt like he needed a lie down.

"Okay Nathan, let's get you into the outfit Aunty Hanna bought you." Aria said, buttoning up the onesie which read _I LOVE MY AUNTY_ on it. As she stared into Nathan's big doe eyes she couldn't help but think of Ezra's eyes, which were soft, blue and kind. _Stop it, Aria. You're in no place for a relationship right now, especially not a relationship with a twenty six year old teacher._ Luckily her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"Hey!" Aria said happily as she opened the door to her three best friends.

"Hey!" They all greeted excitedly in return.

"Oh my goodness, Nathan has got so big!" Emily exclaimed, walking up to the baby.

"I know, right? Soon he's going to be taller than me!" Aria joked.

"He's probably the only person in Rosewood who _isn't_ taller than you yet." Spencer teased, never missing an opportunity to make fun of Aria's short stature.

"So, we got a new English teacher today, he's a _major_ hottie." Hanna gushed as they all sat in Aria's living room. Aria snapped her head up from looking at Nathan to look Hanna in the eye.

"Oh yeah? What does he look like?" Aria asked, trying to play off that she just wanted to picture the handsome man.

" _Gorgeous._ He's got brown curly short hair and these adorable blue eyes and he just has cheekbones that I want to _polish_."

 _Yep,_ Aria thought, _that's definitely him._ Before Aria could reply, Nathan started to cry. She sighed; his timing truly was impeccable.

"I think he's hungry." Aria said, standing up. Aria had come to learn that Nathan had four cries; the cry for when he was hungry, the cry for when he needed his diaper changed, the cry for when he was tired and the cry for when he wanted attention.

"Aria, we're all friends here, you can get your boobs out in front of us." Spencer said dryly.

"Strip strip strip strip!" Hanna chanted.

"No way, it's weird." Aria said, embarrassed.

"It's not weird, it's natural." Emily comforted in a soft voice.

"…Okay, but promise not to stare." Aria warned.

"Promise." They all said in unison. Slowly and self consciously, Aria lowered her t-shirt just enough to feed Nathan. Hanna wolf whistled and Aria went bright red.

"Spencer, can you get the muslin cloth from the coffee table?" Aria asked politely. After Spencer handed it to her she threw it over her chest, covering herself up. Yep, she _definitely_ wasn't Ezra material.

 **(A/N): Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter is personally my favourite so I'll upload it once this has enough reviews:) Please tell me what you thought!xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N): Thank you for the reviews! Hopefully updates will be quicker now that I've finished writing my other story, I Want This. Hope you enjoy:)**

 **Chapter Three**

"Hey Mike, I'm outside the school. Nathan is getting a little cranky so I'm going to give him some fresh air. Call me when practice finishes. Love you." Aria hung up after leaving her brother a voicemail message, then got out of the car to help Nathan out of his car seat. "Come on, little one, let's go for a walk." She said, scooping Nathan up into her arms. It felt strange to be back on the Rosewood High campus. She had dropped out one month before Nathan was born, and hadn't returned since. She wished that she could have graduated but it just wasn't possible. She still read a lot, and wrote whenever she could, and hoped that perhaps one day she'd be able to go to college to study English Literature, but with Nathan she couldn't see that happening any time in the near future.

"Aria!" A voice called. Not just any voice; the voice that made Aria's heart flutter, the voice that had been haunting Aria's dreams for the past three weeks.

"Ezra." Aria said softly, painfully aware that she was holding her baby in her arms. She silently resigned herself to the fact that this would be the last she heard from Ezra.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "Your friends said you had left Rosewood High."

"I have, I'm just picking my brother up from lacrosse." Aria explained, wondering why he wasn't commenting on Nathan. After Aria explained the situation to the girls they had promised that they wouldn't mention the fact that Aria had a baby- so why did he seem so unalarmed?

"Oh, right." Ezra nodded. "Who's this?" He asked, gesturing towards Nathan with a small boyish smile that made Aria's stomach flip.  
"This is Nathan." Aria said with a mix of pride, happiness and worry.

"Hello Nathan!" Ezra greeted softly, walking a little closer so that he could get a good look at the baby. An even bigger grin grew across Ezra's face, and Nathan let out an adorable chuckle.  
"He likes you." Aria smiled.

"He has your eyes." Ezra observed. "Well, yours are a little greener, but they're the same shape, and they've both got the same light in them." He rambled, hoping she would shut her up.

"Really?" She asked with a hint of excitement. "Everybody always says he has his dad's eyes."

It was at that moment that Ezra realised he didn't know whether Aria was still with Nathan's father, and he appreciated the segue she had just given him. Biting down his nervousness, he prepared himself to ask the big question. Before he could speak, they were interrupted.

"Aria?"

"Noel." Aria said, biting her lip.

"Why are you here?"

"Picking up Mike."  
"Why are you talking to Mr Fitz?" He asked with narrowed eyes.

"He's a friend." Aria said, before an awkward silence fell upon Aria, Ezra and Noel. Finally Aria spoke up again. "Aren't you going to say hello to your son?" She asked bitterly.

Ezra tried not to widen his eyes; _Noel Kahn_ was the father!? Noel gave Aria a dirty look and then looked down to Nathan uncomfortably.

"Hey, buddy." Noel said rigidly. "Okay, I'm going."

"Wait, I was going to call you. Could you possibly have Nathan tomorrow night?" She asked hopefully.

"Aria, what the hell?" Noel said, not even trying to hide that he was pissed off. Ezra tried to stand back and give them some privacy, but part of him really wanted to defend Aria.  
"I'm sorry, I know it's last minute but Emily is having the girls round for her birthday and-"

"So you're deserting your son to get drunk? Real nice."  
"Noel, that's not fair and you know that. Emily is one of my best friends and I haven't seen the girls in weeks. I won't even be drinking, but I want to celebrate her birthday." Aria pleaded. Aria's parents had originally said they would look after Nathan, but then Emily changed the night to one that they couldn't do, and Aria was desperate.

"Well, tough, because I'm going on a date tomorrow night." Noel said smugly. _Well,_ Ezra thought, _at least I know they're definitely not together anymore._ Aria furrowed her brow slightly at Noel's comment.

"Please, Noel, please just make your date a little later and I can pick him up at 10."  
"Let me think." Noel said, pretending to ponder. "Nah." He said eventually. Ezra dug his nails into his palm.

"Noel, please." Aria begged. Finally Ezra decided to speak up.

"I could look after him?" Ezra offered. Aria and Noel both looked at him, taken aback.

"Really?" Aria asked.

"Sure! I have nowhere else to be."  
"That would be… _so_ helpful, thank you." Aria said appreciatively.

"No problem." Ezra said with a humble smile. He was about to see Noel's views on this, before he noticed that Noel had already gone off with Ben Coogan. Aria and Ezra exchanged numbers and Ezra gave Aria his address and they arranged for Aria to drop Nathan off at 6:00pm tomorrow. After Aria thanked Ezra a dozen more times, Mike arrived and they went their separate ways. Both of them had an excited feeling in the pit of their stomach- okay, so it was babysitting rather than a hot date, but at least they had the promise of seeing each other again, and now they had each others numbers! Ezra wondered whether this was inappropriate, but decided that there was nothing wrong with helping out a friend. His sixteen year old friend. His sixteen year old friend who had a child with his student. His sixteen year old friend who had a child with his student and who he had an insane infatuation with.

Oh God, this was probably _not_ the best idea.

"How come you were talking to Fitz?" Mike asked as he held Nathan's chubby little hand in the backseat.

"I've met him a few times, we're friends." Aria shrugged, trying to check in the rearview mirror that Mike was being gentle.

"You're friends with my teacher? That's weird." Mike said. "Do mom and dad know?"

"Why would they need to?" Aria retorted.

"Dad would probably have a few things to say about you being friends with a twenty six year old dude." Mike scoffed.

"It's hardly like we're eloping to France, he's just looking after Nathan tomorrow night." Aria said simply, hoping Mike would drop it.  
"I could have looked after Nathan!" Mike protested.  
"Mike, I love you but the last time I left you alone with Nathan you re-enacted the opening scene from _The Lion King_ and nearly dropped him on his head." Aria reminded, making Mike giggle at the memory.

"Okay, fair point. Just… be careful." Mike warned. Aria furrowed her brow.

"Why would I need to be careful? What's wrong with Ezra?" She asked, worried as to what Mike was going to say.

"Nothing, he's a nice guy, I just thought you were done with guys for a while." Mike said sheepishly.  
"Not every guy is like Noel, Mike. And like I said, it's just babysitting." She said. Suddenly she felt a little pang of pain in her heart. It was _just babysitting._ It was just Ezra being a nice guy, looking after Aria's baby. That's all it is, and that's all it will be. Which should be fine, yes? Mike was right, Aria had enough on her plate right now without bringing a boy into the equation; so why was she so upset? Why were the words _just babysitting_ swirling around her head, taunting her like a playground bully? Nathan crying brought Aria out of her thoughts, turning around to see her son reaching his short arms out for Aria. She shook herself off- right now, Nathan was the only boy she should be worrying about.

"Don't worry, Nathy, we're nearly home. I'll give you cuddles in a minute." Aria comforted, stretching an arm backwards to take one of Nathan's little hands into hers.  
"Careful, buddy." Mike whispered in Nathan's ear. "Soon you might be sharing those cuddles with Mr Fitz."

"Dude, why the hell was Aria talking to Fitz?" Ben asked Noel as they walked back from practice.

"I don't know, man. She probably thinks that if she sleeps with him he'll give her a high school diploma." Noel jabbed jokingly, but there was a clear bitterness in his voice. Okay, so him and Aria weren't together anymore and okay, he had been with other girls since and okay, Aria kind of drove him crazy and okay, he was only ever really into her because she was hot but she was still _Aria,_ you know? _His_ Aria. He was her first, and he wanted to be her _only_. He didn't care if it was possessive, they had a _son_ together for Christ's sake. Noel was jolted out of his train of thought by Ben.

"You gotta put that girl in line, bro. She can't just go round neglecting your kid for older men." He said, shaking his head.

"You're right." Noel nodded, his rage growing. "Yeah, you're right. If Fitz thinks he can get his sleazy hands all over Aria, he's got another thing coming."

Aria smiled slightly as she saw Noel was ringing her, assumedly to apologise for earlier and to offer to take Nathan on Friday. He definitely had his faults, but Noel could be sweet sometimes, too.  
"Hey Noel, you don't have to worry about Friday, Ezra said he'd look after Nathan." Aria said as she heated up some of Nathan's baby food. She considered sharing the exciting news that now Nathan was four months old he could eat puréed food, but ultimately decided that Noel probably wouldn't find this as exciting as she did.  
"Ezra?" Was all Noel said, resentment filling his tone.

"Oh, sorry, um, _Mr Fitz._ " She corrected, shaking her head at the weirdness of the situation.

"I don't want him looking after Nathan." Noel said sternly, causing Aria to be a little taken aback.

"So… you can take him?" Aria tried to understand.

"No, that's not what I said. I just don't want Fitz doing it." Noel said irritatedly.

"Well, I don't know anyone else who can do it." Aria said tiredly.

"Then don't go out on Friday. Simple." He quipped, the smugness making Aria recoil.  
"Look, I'm sorry Noel but I haven't been out since before I got pregnant. That's over a year. I think I deserve this." She said, trying to be as strong as possible. Noel stayed quiet for a minute, knowing he wouldn't be able to honestly make an argument to say Aria went out all the time. As soon as she found out she was pregnant it was goodbye partying and hello working, desperately trying to get an income whilst keeping up with school. Noel, on the other hand, had pretty much been consistently going out every weekend, apart from the sporadic night looking after Nathan. Even then, he often left his mom to look after the baby whilst he went to a party.

"Okay, fine. Whatever, hand your baby over to a grown man who's basically a stranger, I can't see where that could possibly go wrong." He finally said. Aria suddenly filled with anger.

"Don't you _dare_ insinuate that I would _ever_ knowingly put my child in any sort of danger! And how dare you say that about Ezra!?" She fumed.

"I swear to God, Aria, if anything happens between you and Fitz…" Noel seethed, completely ignoring Aria's outrage.

"It's just babysitting, Noel. And anyway, why would you even care if something _did_ happen?" She knew she was treading dangerous waters, but her anger had been peaked now.

"Because!" Noel spat.

"Wow, Noel, your debating skills are something else." She said sarcastically, taking the baby food out of the microwave.

"You can thank my English teacher for them. Maybe do it before you stick your tongue down his throat."

"Noel, you're being ridiculous." She sighed. "I need to give Nathan his dinner. Bye."

And with that she hung up, feeling angry, upset, and tired. Why was everything so difficult? Why _couldn't_ she stick her tongue down his throat? Okay, she was getting irrational now, Ezra wasn't even interested in her like that. Or was he?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm so so sorry that this is so late, I've had a lot going on and have been trying out new stories as well! Hopefully this will make up for it as it's a long chapter!**

 **Chapter Four**

"Hi!" Ezra greeted breathlessly as he opened the door. Trying to regain his composure, he spoke again, this time a little lower. "Please, come in."  
"Thank you." Aria smiled, pushing Nathan's stroller into the apartment. She took in her surroundings; it was small, but so perfectly _Ezra_.

"Can I get you something to drink? A glass of water or…?" He asked, gesturing towards the sink.

"Oh, no thank you, I can't stay long." She said politely, before taking a bag off of her shoulders. She handed it over to Ezra. "Um, this has everything you'll need. He has some milk, some baby food, some diapers, a change of clothes, a few books, a blanket, some toys, a-"  
"Thank you." Ezra interrupted gently, worried that she was running out of breath. Aria grinned embarrassedly, before starting agin.

"His bedtime is nine o'clock, I don't have a travel cot but his stroller is approved for sleeping in. If you just put the blanket in with him he'll be fine, and I can pick him up at ten." Aria rambled, her mind filling with every thing that could possibly go wrong in between now and ten.

"Ten? You sure? I can have him for longer if you want to enjoy the time with your friends?" Ezra offered. It was clear Aria wanted to accept, but she didn't want to be rude or push her luck.

"No, it's fine, I'm sure you have better things to be doing with your Friday night." Aria waved her hand dismissively in the air.

"I think you're overestimating the social life of an English teacher." Ezra joked. Aria laughed melodically, and Ezra smiled in the knowledge that he caused that beautiful sound. And it _was_ beautiful, too. It was as if her laughter was a song, a lullaby almost, like a song from an angel. She certainly looked like an angel, with her hair softly curled to frame her heart shaped face. Her smoky eyes lit up and her cheeks reddened, her plump lips turning upwards and flashing her pearl white teeth. Aria had made an effort getting ready tonight, and not just because she hadn't worn make up in weeks or because it was Emily's birthday. Although she wouldn't admit it to herself, it was partly because of Ezra. The last three (and only) times she had met him she had been sporting the 'two hours sleep and no makeup' look, so she was keen to show him that her eyes weren't constantly puffy and bagged and that her skin wasn't always pasty and pale. From the look on Ezra's face, he was impressed with what he saw.

"I should probably get going." Aria said eventually, breaking Ezra's trance.

"Right, of course." He nodded. "Oh, and, Aria?" He added urgently. Aria's big doe eyes looked to meet his.

"Yes?" She asked, so innocently Ezra almost felt like crying.

"Take your time. Enjoy yourself. I promise I'll take good care of Nathan." He smiled, making Aria's heart skip a beat. _God, this would be so much easier if he was_ ** _just_** _handsome or_ ** _just_** _kind, why did he have to be both!?_ Aria managed a nod, before crouching down to Nathan.

"Goodbye, my sweetness. I'll be back soon, okay? I love you so much." She cooed, placing multiple kisses all over his face. Ezra realised how sick it was that he was currently jealous of a four month old baby. Aria stood up and turned to Ezra. "I'll be back later. Thank you so much again for doing this."

"Okay, okay. Never have I ever… had sex with a boy." Emily grinned. Aria scowled at her friend and then tipped her drink into her mouth.

"Ugh, I wish I could drink to that. Sean is so freaking frigid, it's ridiculous!" Hanna whined.

"What do you expect, Han? His dad is a priest!" Spencer remarked.

"What about you, Spence? Have you lost your v-card to any of your sister's boyfriends yet?" Hanna quipped, her drunken state removing what little filter she had in the first place. If Spencer was more sober, she would've gotten very angry, but now she just laughed and threw a pillow at Hanna.

"Nope, I'm just as much as a virgin as you two." Spencer scoffed almost bitterly.

"Hey, I never said I was a virgin. Just that I never had sex with a boy." Emily smiled coyly, causing her three friends to drop their mouths open.

"You and Maya slept together!?" Aria exclaimed excitedly. "When!?"

"Let's just say it's been a good birthday." Emily smirked, taking a sly sip from her drink. The rest of the girls in the room squealed excitedly.

"Okay, Spence, we really need to hurry up and pop our cherries." Hanna ordered, a game plan already formulating in her head.

"Speak for yourself, I'm in no rush. Look where it got Aria." Spencer said, before her hand flew over her mouth and her eyes widened. "Oh my God, Aria, I'm so so sorry. I… I forgot you were here." She admitted. She was so used to Aria not being able to join them when they met up, having her here took some accustoming to.

"Don't worry Spence, I know what you meant." Aria said awkwardly. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"Nice one, smartypants." Hanna whispered to Spencer. Well, she thought she was whispering, but actually everybody could hear and it just made the atmosphere more awkward.

"I'm going to go ring Ezra, check that Nathan's okay." Aria excused, getting up and wobbling slightly. Though she was by no means drunk, after not drinking for over a year she was a little more lightweight than usual and could start to feel the alcohol making her a little dizzy.

"Ezra? Who's Ezra?" Emily inquired. The girls had just assumed Nathan was with Noel for the night.

"Just a friend." Aria shrugged, but her tipsy state betrayed her and let out a telling grin.

" _Just_ a friend?" Hanna repeated mockingly, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Can we _meet_ this friend?" Spencer asked, intrigued.

"You already have." Aria teased cryptically. Now the girls were interested.

"I don't know any Ezra's." Emily said confused, her brow furrowing. The other two girls agreed.

"You do. You just don't know that you do." Aria revealed, before deciding that she had said too much. "Excuse me, I need to make a phone call."

"So Nathan, how do you feel about film noir?" Ezra asked looking into the big hazel eyes of the baby sitting on his lap. His eyes were identical to his mother's. Nathan gurgled slightly and made incoherent noises.

"Impartial?" Ezra guessed. "Well, if it's all the same to you, I think we'll go for 'It Happened One Night'. Well, maybe the first half, and then it's bedtime." He said in a mock strict voice, carefully holding Nathan in one hand as he inserted the DVD with the other hand. Sitting back onto the couch, the two boys relaxed into watching an old favourite of Ezra's and (unbeknown to Ezra) and old favourite of Aria's, too.

They were about twenty minutes into the movie when Ezra felt his thigh vibrate. Reaching into his pocket he saw that Aria was ringing him. The corners of his mouth involuntarily drew upwards as he pressed the green button to accept the call.

"Hey." He greeted in a quiet voice so as not to startle Nathan, who's eyes were slowly starting to droop.

"Hey, I'm just checking up on things." Aria said, her speech slightly slurred. "Has Nathan been behaving?"

"Oh yes, definitely. He's a great kid; very easygoing." Ezra complimented, noticing the irony; he sounded like he was in a parent/teacher conference. Well, he supposed, in a way he was.

"That's great, thank you so much, Ezra. You're amazing." Aria gushed.  
"It's my pleasure. I hope you're enjoying your night." Ezra managed to say, a little distracted by Aria calling him 'amazing'.

"I am, thank you. I'll be back soon." Aria promised, as it was now nearly nine.

"Honestly, Aria, why don't you stay longer? Till Midnight or something?" Ezra offered.

"Really?" Aria asked, forgetting to politely decline.

"Sure! Hopefully Nathan will be asleep, so it will hardly be strenuous labour to have him an extra two hours. I can pick you up if you're worried about walking that late?" He continued to press on, determined to let Aria have one night off being a mom. Aria's heart skipped hearing Ezra say her son's name, before she pulled herself together and answered his request.

"Okay. Okay, that would be amazing. Thank you." Aria beamed, excited both to have a few extra hours with the girl and to have Ezra pick her up.

Midnight came round fast and the girls were starting to settle down. Hanna and Spencer were staying the night at Emily's, so were already in their pyjamas about ready to pass out after a night of drinking, dancing and laughing. Aria mentioned nothing of Ezra coming to pick her up, wanting to avoid their police style interrogation. Right on the chime of midnight, Aria got a text to say that Ezra and Nathan were in the car outside. Aria laughed inwardly at the irony. She was like some strange Cinderella, leaving her ball of being a normal teenager and going back to her normal life of diaper changes and breastfeeding. However, this time her Prince Charming was waiting for her _outside_ of the palace. Well, if you could call Emily's two story detached house a palace. And if you could call Ezra her Prince Charming; He was definitely _charming,_ but was he _hers_? Not so sure.

"Thank you so much for having me, Em, I had an amazing time. Happy birthday." Aria smiled, gathering up her bag.

"Do you want us to walk you home?" Spencer offered. "It's pretty dark."

Aria waved her hands in the air dismissively.  
"Don't worry about it, Ezra is outside with Nathan. Bye!" She said quickly as she dashed towards and out of the door to avoid further questioning. All three girls shared glances before running over the window, trying to get a glance of the mystery boy.

"Can you see anything?" Hanna asked, straining her eyes as they followed Aria walking down Emily's driveway.

"No. Spence, can you?" Emily questioned. They watched Aria get into a silver car, but none of them could get a glimpse of the driver.

"No." Spencer huffed, annoyed. "Why is she so damn secretive all the time? It's beyond annoying."

"She's not _that_ secretive." Emily defended as the three pairs of eyes witnessed the car pulling away."  
"Em, we didn't know she was pregnant until she was over six months along." Hanna reminded.

 _"Just tell them you're at Noel's!" Hanna whined, looking at Aria with pleading eyes._

 _"Han, my parents_ ** _hate_** _Noel, there's no way they'd say yes to that." Aria shut Hanna down and readjusted her oversized sweater._

 _"You can say you're at mine, my parents aren't home, it's the perfect alibi." Spencer offered._

 _"I think I'll miss this one out, I've got loads of work to do." Aria mumbled, picking at her salad._

 _"Aria, is something wrong? You haven't been out with us in ages." Emily said gently._

 _"No, nothing's wrong, I just… don't really feel like drinking, is all." Aria explained as she avoided making any eye contact with her friends. She knew she was being ridiculous, and she knew that they were going to have to find out sooner or later, but she couldn't bring herself to say it just yet._

 _"Then don't drink. You can be our designated driver." Spencer convinced. "But, Ar, how can you turn down a beach party!?"_

 _"I just… I just don't feel very confident in a bikini." Aria excused. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either; the main reason she didn't want to wear a bikini was because then everyone would find out her secret._

 _"Are you kidding me? Aria, you have an amazing body. Your boobs have gotten massive recently, and you have a completely flat stomach." Hanna said with a hint of envy. Aria picked up on this and suppressed a scoff at the irony._

 _"Trust me, Han, I really don't." Aria half-laughed._

 _"You really do- look!" Hanna said, and before Aria realised what she was doing Hanna had pulled Aria's sweater up, revealing a very obvious baby bump. All three girls gasped as Aria tugged her sweater back down in a panic, making sure no one else saw. Spencer was the first to break the silence._

 _"Clearly there's something you need to tell us."_

"You can drop me off here, thank you." Aria smiled as Ezra pulled into her street. She decided it would be safer to walk up from the bottom rather than have a potential showdown between Ezra and Byron. Even though Ezra was just a friend and there was technically nothing wrong with their 'relationship', she had a feeling her father wouldn't like a random man looking after his grandson. The car journey had been short but so so sweet, with Aria and Ezra exchanging easy and engaging conversation, mainly revolving around Nathan. Aria loved seeing him show such an interest in her son, and it made such a stark contrast to Noel who barely acknowledged Nathan's existence. In fact, on more than one occasion Noel had called Nathan 'Ethan'. Ezra, on the other hand, at least _pretended_ to be interested in Nathan, asking questions about his milestones and listening when Aria shared memories or her hopes for his future. Before she got out of the car she reached into her back pocket, handing a fifty dollar note over to Ezra.

"I'm sorry, I didn't bring any more, I didn't expect the extra hours. Maybe I could give you the rest tomorrow, maybe over coffee?" Aria offered, embarrassed that she didn't have enough to give Ezra and really hoping that he would agree to meet her again. Ezra looked down at the money as if it were a difficult math equation, before it clicked. His eyes widened and he starting moving his hands erratically in refusal of her offer.

"Oh, Aria, you don't need to pay me!" Ezra exclaimed, shoving the money back into her hands.  
"Of course I do, you babysat for me!" Aria argued. Ezra noticed the unconventional situation; surely, in most cases, it was the sixteen year old girl that babysat for the twenty six year old man?

"Honestly, Aria, it was a favour. A pleasure!" Ezra insisted. "…But I will take you up on that coffee?"

Aria couldn't contain the wide grin that spread across her face.  
"That would be great. Thank you so much, Ezra. For looking after Nathan, I mean. You really are incredible." She said sincerely, looking Ezra in the eye. Ezra was sure that his heart stopped beating when he caught gaze with her hazel orbs. God, she was so beautiful. Aria broke the intense staring contest to reach into the back and undo Nathan's portable car seat, and then got out of the car to transform the car seat back into his stroller. Ezra watched as she so naturally did the mechanics that he had struggled so much with thirty minutes earlier. They were definitely in different stages of their lives- albeit somewhat reversed- but did that matter? Truth be told, Ezra _wanted_ to settle down and start a family, he just hadn't found the right woman to do that with. Or had he? He shook his head, trying to shake out his thoughts; she was just a friend. He was Nathan's _babysitter,_ not _step-father_ , he was being crazy. But still, she had just initiated a coffee date, hadn't she? _Was_ it a date? Lost in his thoughts, he didn't even realise Aria and a sleeping Nathan where standing awkwardly outside the car, waiting to say goodbye. He quickly got out, unsure whether to hug her, shake her hand, or just give a friendly smile and a wave. Luckily, she decided for him, bringing him in for a brief but warm hug. Neither of them wanted to move away, but Aria was worried that the cold weather would wake Nathan up.

"I should go inside. Thank you again."Aria said for the millionth time. "I'll… see you tomorrow?"  
"Absolutely. How's 10am at the Brew?" Ezra suggested.

"Great! We'll see you there." Aria smiled. Ezra flinched for a second- _we_? He then realised she was referring to Nathan, and relaxed a little. Okay, so a selfish part of him really wanted some alone time between him and Aria, but he realised that of course that was unrealistic and unreasonable.

 _"I'll be over in ten minutes." Aria said over the phone as she shoved a couple of diapers into her purse._

 _"Can't wait." Noel smirked. "My parents are out till eleven, that gives us a few hours of fun."  
Aria sighed, knowing what he was insinuating._

 _"I'm really tired, Noel, can't we just watch a movie or something? Besides, wouldn't it be kind of weird having sex when Nathan is there?" Aria asked, looking down at her beautiful sleeping son._

 _"Aria." Noel groaned. "Please tell me you're not bringing Nathan."_

 _"What are you expecting me to do? Leave our three week old son home alone?" Aria asked, not attempting to hide the irritation in her voice. He could be so immature and irresponsible sometimes._

 _"Get your parents to look after him." Noel said as if it was the most simple solution in the world._

 _"Sure, I'll ask my dad to breastfeed him every twenty minutes." Aria remarked sarcastically. She could basically feel Noel rolling his eyes over the phone._

 _"Okay, you're not pregnant anymore, you can't blame hormones when you're being a bitch. All I want is you, and_ ** _only_** _you, to come over so we can spend time together like normal teenagers."  
"But we're not normal teenagers, Noel, we're parents now. We have to include Nathan in our plans." Aria said firmly, deciding to ignore that Noel had just called her a bitch. "So either I'm coming over with Noel, or I'm not coming at all."_

 _"…Fine. I guess I'll see you at school." Noel sulked. Now it was Aria's time to roll her eyes._

 _"I don't go to school, remember?" She asked dryly, and she swore she heard him let out a little laugh._

 _"Oh yeah, I forgot. See you around."_

As Nathan slept soundly in his cot, Aria took the opportunity to finally start the book she had been wanting to read. Since Nathan was born she hadn't found a lot of time to do the things she once loved, like reading, writing, art and photography. It felt like years since she last cracked open her paint pots, or sat down with her journal, or took her camera out on a hike. After her and Noel split up one of the only positives she could find was that when Noel had Nathan she could have some 'me-time', but the reality turned out to be that whenever Noel (rarely) looked after Nathan, Aria had to work. She had a job at a pizza parlour in Rosewood; it wasn't great pay and the smell of meat made her retch and a lot of the customers were sleazy but it gave her money and God knows she needed that. Her parents helped out with finances for Nathan as much as possible but babies were expensive, and she didn't want to cut into Mike's college savings.

Aria didn't even realise when the sun started to come up, she had been so engrossed in her book, _Brave New World._ The only thing that broke her from her trance was Nathan waking up, letting out a hungry cry. She looked at the clock on the bedside table- 6:12am. She was definitely going to regret staying up all night.

"Good morning, baby." She whispered. "You're going to have to be quiet, or else you'll wake grandma and grandpa." She warned, carefully picking Nathan out of his crib. She walked him over to the rocking chair where she was sitting and pulled her top down, letting Nathan suck on her breast. "Wow, hungry boy! Slow down, you'll get the hiccups." She instructed, stroking his back up and down slowly in the hopes of steadying his tempo. To her surprise, it worked.

After he finished feeding Nathan cuddled into Aria, making her a very happy girl indeed. It was moments like this that made everything worth it. All the late nights, all the early mornings, all the crying and diapers and vomiting, none of that mattered when Aria held the most precious thing on earth to her in her arms.

 **A/N: I know it's an abrupt ending but it was getting too long! I hope you enjoyed, please leave your thoughts and suggestions. P.S- I've just uploaded a new story set after the time jump, so check it out if you're interested! Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N): I'm really glad you're enjoying the story! To the people who are asking, Noel will definitely play a big part in this story and there are definitely some unresolved feelings and issues between him and Aria (as you'll see in this chapter)! Also, don't worry, Aria and Ezra will have a very happy moment soon!

 **Chapter Five**

"Nathan, please stop crying." Aria begged, her own eyes starting to water. Passers-by gave scornful looks, clearly judging the sixteen year old girl holding a screaming baby in the middle of the shopping mall. She had brought him in to get him some new toys as she read that motor stimulation was important at the five month mark, but clearly he was not in the mood to be out and about. For the past ten minutes he had been crying his lungs out, his little face burning red in frustration, his chubby fists whacking Aria in the face as she bobbed him up and down. Usually she was good at making him calm down, but today nothing seemed to be working. She couldn't help but be suspicious; Noel had him last night (for the first time in over three weeks) and this entire day Nathan had been cranky. She was determined not to accept defeat and go home to put him to bed, because she knew that would only make him worse when trying to get him to sleep tonight. She was tempted to give up, though. Oh God, she was tempted.

"Nathan, please." She sighed in little more than a whisper. By now tears were running down her face, but because she was holding Nathan she couldn't wipe them away. It reminded her of when Nathan was a newborn, and she'd spend her nights crying along with him as she longed for quiet and sleep and just some _normality_.

"Come on, baby, what's wrong?" She asked, half expecting an answer. She had fed him, changed him, played with him, nothing was working. She was about ready to pull her hair out with frustration when she looked up to see herself surrounded by a group of jocks from her old school, most of them good friends with Noel. _Perfect_.

"Can you get your kid to shut up?" One sneered.

"Are you _crying_?" Another mocked.

"He looks hungry, maybe you should get your boobs out." Some boy joked.

"That's how she got knocked up in the first place."

"She got knocked up by being a slut."

"Seriously, she needs to make that kid stop crying or I will make him stop myself."

"What is going on here?" A voice interrupted the taunting. All heads turned to see Mr Fitz standing with his arms crossed. Although he was in his casual weekend gear, he still had a teacher like demeanour that was registered by the boys. They all shifted uncomfortably.

"We were just joking around, Mr Fitz." One of them said sheepishly.

"Does she look like she finds this funny?" Ezra questioned, pointing to Aria who's mascara was now dragging down her face, looking like she wished she could be anywhere else but here. "I want you all to apologise right now, and I'll see you all in detention on Monday."  
"Mr Fitz, you can't give us detention, we're not in school!" A boy protested. Ezra shot him a glare.

"Mr Mathews, you represent Rosewood High both on and off campus. If you are unwilling to apologise and accept punishment, I'm sure Coach Thomas will be very interested to hear how one of his finest players has spent his weekend verbally abusing a young mother." Ezra said sternly, making all of the boys feel nervous.

"Sorry, Aria." Each of them mumbled. Aria simply nodded before turning and running away. Well, as close as you can get to running away when you're carrying a five month old baby and a stroller and multiple shopping bags. Ezra took one last angry look at each of the boys before rushing after Aria, who was walking out of the shopping mall at a fast pace.

"Aria, wait." He called out.

"Please, don't talk to me right now." She said as steadily as she could manage, although it came out husky and uneven. Ezra slowed down a little, a bit hurt and confused.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because I'm embarrassed." She admitted whilst still staring straight ahead.

"You don't need to be embarrassed, Aria." He sighed. This time she turned round, forcing herself to look him in the eye.

"Don't I? I can't look after my own son, I can't hold it together in the middle of a public space, I can't handle some idiot boys making fun of me without you stepping in and making it even more humiliating. I can't do anything right and I'd really appreciate if you didn't talk to me from now on." She spilled, taking a deep exhale once she was finished. Ezra took a few seconds to take everything in.

"Why?" He eventually asked. Aria furrowed her brow.

"Why what?"

"Why don't you want me to talk to you? Have I done something wrong?" He asked. _What, apart from lust over a sixteen year old mother?_ His guilty conscious answered him.

"You haven't done anything. I just…" She paused- should she admit it? Should she tell him she was attracted to him? "I just… I don't want you getting caught up in this mess. Noel's your student, you know?"

Ezra looked at her dubiously, not sure whether he believed her excuse, but ultimately he threw his hands up.

"Okay. Okay. If you want me to stay away, I'll stay away. I just didn't like them talking to you like that." He said sadly. "If you ever change your mind and want to talk, you have my number. And my address." He joked with a little laugh.

Aria just nodded, certain that if she spoke she would burst into a fresh wave of tears. Nathan, who had now finally calmed down and was in his stroller, reached his little arms out towards Ezra whilst making unintelligible noises. Ezra smiled sadly.

"Bye, little one." He cooed softly, ruffling Nathan's little tufts of soft hair. Aria gave a small smile before turning away and pushing Nathan towards the car, resulting in a soft cry of protest.

"I know, Nathy." Aria whispered. "I don't want to say goodbye to him, either."

"Wait, I don't understand." Spencer said over the phone. It was a sentence Spencer rarely said, and she was not happy that she had to be saying it right now. "You really like this guy, and he seems to like you, so… you told him to leave you alone and never talk to you again?"

Aria sighed; when she put it like that it seemed so ridiculous.

"First off, I don't even know if he likes me. Actually, I really doubt he does." Aria started.

"Unlikely, but continue." Spencer interrupted. Spencer hated how low Aria's self esteem had become since Nathan was born- how could she not realise that people were head over heels for Aria left, right and centre? Aria payed little attention to Spencer's interjection and carried on.

"Secondly, even if he _did_ like me, it could never happen. That's why I told him to leave me alone, because it hurts too much being with him whilst knowing I can never _be_ with him."

"And why can't you be with him again?" Spencer asked for the hundredth time.

"Because I just can't, Spence, keep up." Aria rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"It would be a lot easier to keep up if you told me who this freaking guy was." Spencer groaned. She hated secrets being kept from her, especially when they were involving her best friend.

"I can't tell you. You'd find it too weird." Aria decided, although she really was tempted to tell her.

"Wait… _please_ tell me it's not Jason?" Spencer begged.

"What? No, it's not Jason. Why would you think it was Jason?" Aria asked.

"You said I'd find it weird. I'd find it pretty weird if my brother became my best friend's sons step-dad."

"You don't have to worry about that, the last time I spoke to Jason was when I had pink streaks in my hair." Aria shuddered. "And slow down, who said anything about step-dads?"

"So, what, you want to be this kids step-dad?" Hardy asked as he took a long sip out of his beer.

"Woah, slow down. I never said anything about step-dads. I just… I really like this girl, man. Like _really_ like her." Ezra sighed, before taking a big gulp of self medication.

"Don't go there, dude. This girl is trouble. She's barely legal and she already has a kid. She could have been your _student_. Nothing about this is right." Hardy shook his head. Usually it was Ezra that had to talk him out of a bad decision.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this anyway, she made is pretty clear that she wants nothing to do with me." He said a little more bitterly than he intended. "Hey, can you fill up my cup?"

"No, man, I'm cutting you off. Off from the scotch and off from this girl. I've never seen you this hung up about something and frankly it's depressing as fuck. There are plenty of hot chicks in Rosewood, okay? Hot chicks who can legally drink and who don't have babies." Hardy drawled on, but the words went straight over Ezra's head. He didn't _want_ anyone else, he _wanted_ Aria, and he _hated_ himself for wanting Aria but he did.

"We never even went for that coffee." Ezra said glumly, completely ignoring Hardy. Hardy rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Listen, _I_ will take you for coffee, okay? I'll even get you one of those little cookies that you dip in it. Just promise me you will never speak to this girl again."

"I think you need to speak to him again." Spencer advised through the phone.

"I don't know, I doubt he even wants to. I was pretty rude to him." Aria cringed at the memory of her telling Ezra to leave her alone.

"Aria, I hate to be the one to break it to you but you're kind of like a drug. People are addicted to you, even if you give them tonnes of bad trips." Spencer made Aria laugh with her ridiculous metaphor, but Spencer swore it was true. She had seen countless people get hooked on the legal drug that was Aria Montgomery, but Aria seemed completely oblivious.

"I really think I messed this one up, Spence." Aria sighed.

"No, no. I refuse to let you think like that. Put this phone down, put some make up on and go and see if this guy wants a coffee. If he turns you down I will quit caffeine for six months." She said confidently. Aria sucked in air through her teeth, considering what Spencer was suggesting.

"Okay. Okay, I'll go talk to him." She said, nodding her head even though Spencer couldn't see her.

"Yes! Oh, and Aria? Maybe don't take Nathan with you. I would offer to take him but I've got a date night with this boy Alex and-" Spencer rambled, before Aria interrupted her.

"Spence, don't worry, my parents should be home soon. Go enjoy your date, and thank you for everything. I love you." She rushed, hanging up the phone so she could do her makeup whilst Nathan slept.

Aria breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the front door opening, signalling that her father was home. She ran down the stairs, lightly so as not to wake Nathan, and enveloped her dad in a hug.

"Hey dad, could you watch Nathan for a few hours? He's asleep." She begged. Byron was by no means thrilled to have be a grandfather only sixteen years after becoming a father, but nonetheless he loved Aria and Nathan and tried to help out when he could. With a full time job as a college professor, this wasn't often. Byron heaved a sigh, and checked his watch. He supposed he could mark papers here rather than at the office.

"Okay, where are you going?" He asked, taking in his daughter's appearance. She was wearing makeup and small heels, which was a fairly uncommon occurrence since Nathan was born. "Wait, you're not going to Noel's are you?" He questioned. Needless to say, Byron was not a big fan of the punk who knocked up his daughter, especially considering how absent he had been since Nathan was born. Aria shook her head.

"No, I'm not going to Noel's. I'm going to Hanna's, it's her mom's birthday." She lied. Byron seemed to believe it, as he let her go with the promise that she'd keep him updated through text.

Aria's hand shook as it raised to knock on Ezra's apartment door. For the entire trip she had been rehearsing what she wanted to say; that she had only pushed him away because she was scared of her feelings for him, and that if he was interested she would love to get to know him as more than a friend. Running over the speech mentally one more time, she finally gathered the courage to knock. When the door opened, her face scrunched up in confusion; this wasn't Ezra.

"Are you Aria?" The man said, clear distaste in his tone.

"Um, yes. Is Ezra here?" She asked, trying to peer over the man's shoulder. This was proving difficult to her five foot two stature. The man stepped into the hallway and closed the door, completely preventing Aria from looking into the apartment.

"You shouldn't be here." He said seriously. Aria's face fell in a mix of confusion, hurt and dejection- what was going on?

"Please, I really need to talk to Ezra." She pleaded.

"No, you really need to leave. Ezra doesn't want to talk to you. He doesn't want to see you, he doesn't want to hear from you, okay?" Hardy's voice was low to prevent Ezra from hearing, but his tone was still stern. He felt a little bad when he saw the look on Aria's face, so he softened his voice and then continued. "Look, I'm sure you're a great kid, but you _are_ a _kid._ A kid _with_ a kid. Ezra doesn't need that in his life. I'm sorry."

Aria stared at the wall behind Hardy to stop herself from crying. She gave a small nod to say that she understood and then quickly turned away, almost running down the stairs and out of the apartment block in embarrassment.

"Who was that?" Ezra asked as Hardy walked back into Ezra's bachelor pad.

"Oh, just some salesperson. Soda?"

Aria wasn't ready to go home yet. She couldn't face going back to her father and Nathan after being out for all of ten minutes- her dad would be sure to ask questions that Aria didn't have the answer to. She had never felt so humiliated in her life, and she spent her sophomore year with a baby bump! How could she be so stupid, thinking that someone like Ezra could possibly want her? The only positive to this situation was that she would be doing some good to Spencer's health now that she couldn't have caffeine for six months. Aria briefly considered calling her, but then remembered that she was on date. It was a Friday, which meant Hanna would be with Sean and Emily would be swimming. Looking round aimlessly, Aria decided that she might as well go to the Brew, even if Ezra wouldn't be joining her. Perhaps she could write her sorrows away.

Aria had been furiously writing for about half an hour before she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Aria?"

She looked up to see Noel Kahn standing above her, muffin in hand.

"Oh, hey, Noel." Aria said quietly, hastily closing her journal. She noticed that he was wearing the same shirt he wore when they first hooked up. It was a round necked white t-shirt, and Aria had told him he looked like James Dean. Noel didn't know who that was, but Aria assured him it was a good thing. Noel clearly caught Aria starting at his shirt, as his oh too familiar smirk appeared on his face.

"Like what you see?" He asked in a flirtatious voice. Aria involuntarily blushed.

"Sorry, I just… I remember that t-shirt.' She said sheepishly. Noel raised an eyebrow.

"Me too. I seem to remember it ending up on my floor." He winked. His eyes raked over Aria. She was wearing a band t-shirt for _The Fray_ which used to be her father's but she had since stolen and customised, a black faux leather skater skirt. and black heeled Mary-Jane's. Her hair was up in a ballerina bun and her makeup was subtle but complimentary. From the look on Noel's face, he liked what he saw.

"Can I get you a coffee?" He asked. Aria knew she should say no. She knew she should tell him to piss off, that she wanted nothing more to do with him than exchanging Nathan at front doors. She knew she should give him a piece of her mind for being so hot and cold with her, shouting at her one minute then flirting with her the next. She knew that, she really did.

…But she was sad, and she was lonely. Maybe if she couldn't get an Ezra, she would have to settle for a Noel. Aria tried to remember the Noel she had crushed over for so many years. In truthfulness, Aria realised that this Noel was imaginary, a Noel she had created in her head over countless day-dreams and fantasies. Imaginary Noel told her she was beautiful, and stayed up late with her while they discussed books that made them cry. Real life Noel told her she was hot, and would only stay up late for one thing and one thing only. However, he was here and Ezra wasn't, so she let him buy her a coffee.

And she let him sit a little too close next to her.

And she let him rest his hand on her thigh.

And when he whispered in her ear to meet her in the bathroom, she followed.

Her body quickly re-familiarised itself with Noel's, her legs wrapped round his waist as she sat on the bathroom counter with his tongue down her throat. She didn't know why she was doing this; she didn't even _like_ Noel, let alone _like_ like him. Was she attracted to him? Sure; Her hands bunching up his t-shirt were testament to that. Did he make her laugh? Sometimes. Could he be sweet and charming if he tried? Of course he could. But did she like him? No. Not anymore. When his hand slid under her skirt and to her underwear, Aria suddenly came to her senses.

"Noel, we shouldn't be doing this." She said flustered, placing her hands on his chest.

"Why not? It's not as if we've never done it before." He smirked, his hand starting to firmly stroke her above her panties. Aria's body betrayed her by letting out an involuntary moan at the sensation.

"Yeah, but, we're not together anymore." Aria argued. "And we're in a public restroom." She added with repulsion.

"Then come to my house." Noel shrugged, completely ignoring Aria's first statement.

"No, no I should get back to Nathan. My dad probably wants to go to bed." She said, gently pushing Noel backwards so that she could get down from the counter. Noel groaned and lightly kicked the wall, not bothering with hiding his frustration.

"Fine, go home then." He muttered. Aria tentatively placed a hand on Noel's arm and sighed before she spoke.

"Look, why don't me, you and Nathan all go out some day? Go get breakfast or something? It will be good for him to have us both together." She proposed in what felt like one breath. Noel squinted his eyes, trying to work out exactly what it was Aria was suggesting. A date? A chance to hook up? In actuality, Aria was genuinely suggesting exactly what she had suggested, but that didn't cross Noel's mind. He wasn't used to people doing things without ulterior motives.

"Sure. How's Sunday?"

(A/N): Hope you enjoyed! Please tell me what you thought and give your suggestions for later chapters, I listen to all of your reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

(A/N): Thank you for all the reviews, and sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

 **Chapter Six**

Ezra was a headstrong romantic, so much so that it was what was keeping him going this past month. Not hearing from Aria was killing him, but a tiny part of him clung onto the hope that fate would cross their paths again. It had happened before, hadn't it? At the bar, the supermarket, Mike's lacrosse practice, the mall- it was almost as if the universe was telling them to be together. Hardy never hesitated to inform him that bumping into someone four times isn't fate, it's coincidence. But Ezra couldn't help but think otherwise. _Never_ had Ezra imagined falling for someone so young, but as cliché as it sounded age really didn't seem anything but a number with Aria. She was certainly extraordinarily mature for her age, whether that was because of her natural disposition or because of life events. She was definitely wise beyond her years, and although she was so tiny she looked older than she was. Again, Hardy reminded Ezra that this was all irrelevant seeing as she was still sixteen, no matter how old she looked or acted. Distressed by his clouded thoughts, Ezra decided a walk in the park would do him some good. He liked to get outside whenever he needed his mind clearing, so he grabbed a book from his bedside table and head out of his apartment door.

The walk was rather pleasant, the Summer air beaming down on Ezra's skin. He decided on a park bench to sit down and read. It was shaded by a large oak tree so that he could see the words easier, the only downside being it faced the children's park area. Ezra figured he'd just block out the sounds of screaming kids and chattering mom's. As he sat down, a sound caught his attention. It was a laugh. Not just any laugh, no, that was the unmistakeable sound of Aria's laugh. His head whipped up and he caught sight of her immediately; she was standing at the swing set, ever so gently pushing Nathan in the chair designed specially for small babies. Nathan was giggling and gurgling with glee, in turn making Aria laugh her beautiful, melodic laugh. _I need to go over and talk to her,_ he thought. _Maybe if I explain how I feel about her, she'll let me in again,_ he reasoned. Gathering every ounce of courage he had, he stood up from the bench. Just as he did, Noel walked up to Aria holding two ice creams. He handed one to Aria and kept the other one for himself, and Aria gratefully smiled before taking a lick. Ezra felt his heart plummet into his stomach; her and Noel were back together? He watched with sadness, envy and confusion as Aria and Noel took it in turns to push Nathan's swing, engaging in happy chit chat as they did. After subjecting himself to a few more moments of this torture, Ezra turned around and carried on walking, deciding to find a new spot to read.

Just as he was walking away, Aria spotted him out of the corner of her eye. Her heart skipped a beat and in a split decision, she turned to Noel.

"I'll be two minutes." She said, holding up two fingers.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To find a restroom." She lied. "I'll be right back." She added, already heading her way out. Once she was into the main park, she looked around, trying to spot the dark green t-shirt he was wearing. She finally found him, a good running distance away from her. _How fast was he getting away from me?_ She wondered. Taking a deep breath, she started to sprint.

"Ezra! Ezra!" She called out. Upon hearing his name (or rather, hearing his name from _her_ lips), Ezra immediately spun around to see Aria running towards him. Once she got there she was out of breath, her cheeks flushed bright pink, and her ice cream still in her hand.

"Aria." Ezra said softly, barely louder than a whisper. His tone was undecipherable. Aria took a breath of courage and then plunged into her very ill prepared speech.

"Listen, I know you don't want me to talk to you, but-"

"Wait, _I_ don't want _you_ to talk to _me_? Last time I checked you were the one forbidding me from speaking to you." He said with a hint of bitterness. Aria raised her eyebrows accusatively.

"Last time _I_ checked you got your little bodyguard to stop me from even coming into your apartment." She retorted boldly. Ezra was beyond confused.

"You came to my apartment?" He questioned. Aria's face softened.

"You didn't know?" She asked. Ezra shook his head. Aria looked to the ground sheepishly. "I assumed when your friend told me to go away that he had sent you." She admitted.

"Hardy sent you away? Aria, I never told him to do that. The only reason I haven't spoken to you is because I thought you didn't want me to." He explained, not able to hide the hurt in his voice. Aria's heart broke at his expression.

"I'm sorry I said that. I didn't mean it." She apologised. Ezra shook his head.

"No, I get it. I'm sure Noel wouldn't appreciate you befriending his teacher." Ezra mumbled. Aria furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Noel? Why do you think this has anything to do with Noel?" She asked. Ezra shrugged.

"I'm just saying, being back together with him changes the dynamic of our friendship and I understand that." Ezra said, although it killed him to. Now Aria was _really_ confused.

"Ezra, Noel and I aren't back together." She said slowly, trying to work out where he was getting this from. Had he heard about what happened last month in the restroom? Oh God, maybe Noel was talking about it in class?

"Then why are you two here at the park?" Ezra asked.

"It's Nathan's six month birthday, so I managed to convince him to come celebrate with us. We've been trying to spend more time together with Nathan." Aria explained.

In the month since the 'restroom incident' as Aria had labelled it, Aria and Noel had met up three times with Nathan. On the first, they went to breakfast at The Grille. Nathan spit up on Noel's shoulder, so Noel threw a hissy fit and went home to shower. On the second, they went down to the lake. Noel saw people he knew and demanded that they hid, resulting in an argument as Aria felt Noel was embarrassed of their son. This was their third, and for some miraculous reason, it seemed to be going okay. There were a few blunt comments and little jabs, but apart from that they were getting on well, almost like how they were when they first started going out. That's why Aria lied about going to the bathroom; she had a feeling if she said she was running after Ezra, Noel would flip. Aria cared about Nathan too much to risk that, because she really wanted him to have at least a hint of normalcy with his parents, and one more fight could stop these 'play-dates' from ever happening again.

"So… you two are… just friends?" Ezra asked carefully. Aria nodded.

"To be honest, we're barely that. We're at each others throats a lot of the time." She said with a slight laugh. Ezra didn't know how to react, so he just stood there awkwardly.

"So what did you want to say to me?" He asked eventually, remembering that he had interrupted Aria's big speech. Aria bit her lip, looking into his bright blue eyes. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, clearly hesitant to say anything. Finally, she just went with it.

"I… I just wanted to say that I was sorry, for how I acted. I didn't mean it when I said I didn't want you to talk to me. Actually, not talking to you has been a lot harder than I ever could have expected." She blurted. Ezra felt his heart flip, but he still wanted answers.

"Then why did you say it?" He asked, blunter than he intended. Aria's face fell a little at his harshness. Ezra became overcome with the urge to hold her and tell her it was okay, but he stood his ground, waiting for an explanation.

"…I said it because I'm falling for you, and spending time with you really isn't helping me get over it." She finally said, very very quietly.

Ezra wanted to sing, and laugh, and scream all at once; She liked him back! He made an unidentifiable noise that was somewhere in-between a gasp, giggle and scoff.

"Why would you need to get over it?" He asked, searching for an answer in her giant hazel eyes. Aria squinted, trying to work out what he was saying.  
"Because unrequited feelings aren't my definition of a good time?" She posed slowly as if it was a question. Ezra couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Aria, what makes you think those feelings are unrequited?" He asked exasperatedly. He could have almost laughed; did she really not see how crazy he was about her!? Aria just shrugged sadly.

"People like you don't usually fall for people like me." She said simply. Ezra felt his heart break a little, and before he knew what he was doing he had stepped closer towards Aria, placing his hands on her cheeks and gently pulling her face upwards so that she was looking up at him.

"Aria, I don't think you realise how amazing you are." He whispered gently, stroking her right cheek with his thumb. Aria blinked her Bambi eyes, tears glazing over as she opened them. She parted her lips slightly, rising onto her tiptoes and leaning upwards. Just as Ezra was about to close the distance, a voice made them both jump.

"What the hell is going on here?" Noel barked. Ezra and Aria whipped their heads to see Noel holding Nathan, standing a few feet away from them with a massive scowl on his face.

"Noel, I-" Aria started, but Noel just spoke over her.  
"So is this a thing now? You two are together? Were you together when we hooked up in the bathroom? Is that why you stopped it?" His bombardment of questions came as a metaphorical hit to Aria and Ezra's stomachs.

"You two hooked up?" Ezra asked quietly, his voice full of hurt. Aria shook her head wildly, her eyes wide.

"No, we just… made out a little, and it was weeks ago! I only did it because I was upset over you." She rambled, keeping her voice low in the hopes that Noel wouldn't hear what she was saying. Suddenly Noel was right up in Ezra's face, staring him down.

"If you knew what was good for you, Fitz, you'd stay away from Aria. Far, far away." He seethed. The message would have been a lot more threatening if Noel _wasn't_ holding a babbling baby, but it was still enough to make Ezra uneasy.  
"Noel, you don't have a say in this." Aria said bluntly, taking his arm and pulling him away from right in front of Ezra.

"Damn right I have a say in this. I don't want my son around some pervert who preys on sixteen year old girls." He spat. Aria let out a dry, rueful laugh.

"Oh, like this is about Nathan! You only care about him when it's convenient for you and I'm getting sick of it!" Aria shouted, suddenly filled with anger.

"Don't you dare tell me I don't care about my son!" Noel shouted even louder, causing multiple passers by to stare. Nathan started crying at the sudden raise of voice.  
"Noel, I can count the amount of days you've spent with him on two hands so _please_ quit the caring father act and say what this is really about; you don't want me with anyone else. You see me as 'yours', even though we haven't been together in months! Sorry to break it to you, but I've moved on, and there's nothing you can do about it because it's really none of your business." She ranted, before reaching over and taking Nathan out of Noel's arms. Nathan's whimpers immediately softened as Aria bobbed him up and down. Noel and Ezra stood dumbfounded at Aria's outburst. Ezra wondered whether he should leave, but decided to stay as he wanted to make sure Aria was okay and that Noel didn't get too aggressive. Also, he very nearly kissed Aria, and who in their right mind would walk away after that?

After what felt like minutes of tense silence, Noel spoke.

"Fine. Whatever. If you want to fuck a teacher, fuck a teacher." He spat, before getting only inches away from Aria. "But you two will _never_ have what we had. You'll _never_ be able to give him what you gave me and I'll _always_ be the person who gave you your precious little love goblin." He said in a menacing voice, nodding his head downwards towards Nathan. Aria stood motionless, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. It was only after he stormed off that she allowed her bottom lip to quiver, before collapsing into a fit of sobs. Ezra quickly stepped forwards from his spot in the background and wrapped his strong arms around her, careful not to crush Nathan in the process. Aria felt instantly soothed by his hold, and a wave of comfort rushed over her as he kissed the top of his head. Usually she was embarrassed to cry in front of people, but now she was letting the tears fall, letting Ezra hear every single weep and whimper. They stayed like that for a matter of minutes, until Nathan started to get restless.

"Come on, Aria, let's get you home." He whispered, gently stroking her back. Aria pulled back, an urgency in her eyes.

"No, no I can't go home. Mike has his lacrosse friends over. I can't let them see me like this." She whimpered. Ezra nodded in understanding.

"You could come to mine? If you want to." He offered. Aria bit her lip, looking into his sapphire eyes, and then gave a small nod. Ezra smiled gently. He noticed that Aria's arms started to sag a little with the weight of Nathan, so he extended his arms.

"Here, I'll carry Nathan. Let's go find his stroller." He said, gently taking the babbling six month old out of Aria's arms and into his own. Aria smiled at the sight. For a moment her mind indulged in the fantasy that Nathan was Ezra's, but she quickly shook the thought away. Noel was right about one thing; he'll always be Nathan's father, whether he acted like it or not. As long as Nathan was around, Noel would have to be too. Aria knew she'd have to talk things over with him eventually, but all she wanted to do right now was forget about him and enjoy the time she was about to spend with Ezra.

As Ezra opened the apartment door, it suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea what to do from here on out. The walk had been easy, with light conversation and comfortable silences making the time go quickly. Now that they were inside, however, he didn't know how to proceed with things. They were _this close_ from kissing at the park, but he didn't know whether she wanted to do that again. She did say that she liked him, but maybe it was a spur of the moment action, something that she's now decided she's not ready for? And if he kissed her now, after inviting her to his apartment, would she assume he was expecting more? Not that he didn't _want_ more, but he didn't want Aria to think he was _asking_ for more. If anything was going to happen between the two of them, it was all going to be 100% on Aria's terms. He had already lost her for a month, and that was something he definitely didn't want to happen again.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Aria lightly clearing her throat.

"Um, you can put Nathan down now. He can't crawl yet so just putting him on the bed should be fine. He'll probably drift off in a few minutes anyway." Aria said slightly shyly, not wanting to seem bossy. Ezra immediately nodded and tentatively placed Nathan in the centre of his bed, slightly ruffling his hair as the baby naturally curled up ready to sleep. Aria smiled as Ezra walked over to Aria, who was now hovering in front of the couch. He made a gesture to let Aria know it was okay to sit down, so she carefully placed herself onto the sofa. Ezra wondered whether she was always this cautious, as if she was apologising for taking up space. He couldn't remember her being like this when they met, but he supposed she was in a sort of disguise; she wasn't Aria the insecure sixteen year old mother, she was just Aria. His aim was to get just Aria back.

(A/N): Please please _please_ review to get the next chapter up faster. I have a feeling a lot of you are going to like it;)


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Would a movie wake Nathan?" Ezra asked. Aria shook her head, looking up at him from her spot on the couch.

"It shouldn't do, he's a pretty heavy sleeper." She explained, mentally adding _Thank God._ Ezra nodded and walked over to his DVD collection. He held up a disc after searching for a while.

"You seen _Woman of the Year_?" He asked. Aria nodded enthusiastically.

"It's one of my favourites." She gushed. Ezra smiled widely, making Aria's stomach flip. _God, he is so attractive._

"Mine too." He said softly, putting the disc into the slot. As he walked back to the couch, he was hit with the sudden panic on where to place himself. Did he sit right next to Aria, or on the other side? As if she sensed his struggle, she flipped over her blanket, lightly patting the spot next to her. He was pretty sure that he was grinning like an idiot as he took his seat, revelling in the feeling of their bodies next to each other.

About ten minutes into the movie, Aria accidentally brushed her hand over Ezra's. Well, he thought it was accidental, but when her fingers interlocked with his, he started to wonder if maybe it wasn't. He tried hard not to look down as he didn't want to seem as if he was perturbed by the action, but his curiosity got the best of him and he was desperate to see what his hand looked like holding hers. He subtly tilted his head to get a better view, and he wasn't disappointed with what he saw. Her tiny, delicate hand made a complimentary juxtaposition to his bigger, stronger ones. Once he looked up, he realised that Aria had been watching him the whole time. Their eyes met, and at once they simultaneously leaned in, their lips finally cascading against each other.

Kissing Aria felt like stepping out into a Spring day, basking in the fresh air and gentle, welcoming heat. Kissing Ezra felt like opening your favourite book, instantly comforted by the nostalgic familiarity and yet still excited to go on the journey of re-reading. When Aria and Ezra kissed each other, it felt like sitting under the shade of a blossom tree, the bluebirds being a soundtrack to your morning as you stayed for hours engrossed in your favourite novel. The feeling was as devilishly addictive as it was sweet, and Aria and Ezra only pulled apart every minute or so for a refreshment of oxygen before joining their lips again. Despite the passion, there was no hastiness or desperation to deepen the kiss, both of them just wanting to enjoy and explore the feel of each other's mouths and tongues. Ezra's hands were on Aria's cheeks whilst Aria rested hers on his back, and each of them could feel the other smiling.

"Your lips taste like ice cream." Ezra said fondly as they pulled away for air, their foreheads and noses still touching. Aria giggled and unconsciously darted her tongue out to lick her lips.

"I really, really like you." Aria found herself confessing without her brain giving permission. Ezra softly chuckled before placing a soft kiss on Aria's lips.

"I really, really like you, too." He replied. Almost unconsciously, they joined their lips together again. Ezra tentatively moved one of his hands down to her waist, and Aria responded by shifting her position so that she was now straddling his lap. She placed her hands on his chest, and then pulled her head back, smiling sweetly.

"Your heart is beating really fast." She observed. Ezra could feel his cheeks reddening a little, but he couldn't help but smile with her. Not wanting Ezra to be embarrassed, she gently took one of his hands and placed it on her own chest. "Mine is, too. See?"

Ezra nodded with a grin, surprised with how excited it made him to feel Aria's racing heart and know that he made it like that. Time seemed to freeze, so neither of them could tell how long they were staring into each other's eyes before Nathan interrupted them by letting out a soft wail.

With a sigh and mumbled 'sorry', Aria rose from the couch and went to the bed, scooping the crying baby into her arms. As she bobbed him up and down, she ascertained that he was hungry. Almost simultaneous with realising this, she also realised that she didn't have any baby food with her, and would have to breast feed him. Ezra sat patiently on the couch, still a little dazed from what just happened, whilst Aria tried to make a split decision; did she leave so she could feed Nathan in private, or did she stay and do it in Ezra's apartment? She wanted to stay, of course she did, but she didn't know whether she was ready for Ezra to see her like _that_. The feminist in her knew that there was nothing sexual or shameful about feeding her child, but she couldn't help feeling exposed. Would Ezra find it weird, or uncomfortable? Would he see her in that light and decide it was too complicated being with her? Would he be angry at her or Nathan for ruining the moment? Would he think it was gross, and never be able to look at her the same way?

Almost as if reading her mind, Ezra craned his head to face Aria and Nathan, giving a small supportive smile.

"Do what you need to do, I don't mind waiting." He said, before standing up. "Anything I can do to help?"

"I think he's hungry." Aria explained, her heart beating even faster with the reminder at how kind Ezra truly was.  
"I have some leftover Chinese in the fridge if he's interested?" Ezra joked. Well, it was a half joke, along with the realisation that he had no idea what babies ate. Aria laughed and shook her head.

"He's not quite old enough yet, but I might take you up on that offer?" She said shyly. "If it extends to me, of course." She added quickly, realising that Nathan was actually the only one asked. She felt a little rude asking, but she had only eaten ice cream all day and she was starving. Ezra nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! I'll just heat it up." He said, dashing over to the kitchen. Once he got to the fridge he turned around to see Aria sitting on the couch, self consciously tugging at the collar of her shirt to try and subtly feed Nathan. His eyes widened in realisation, and although the caveman in him _really_ wanted to stay quiet and watch, he spoke up.

"Um, I have a blanket on that chair over there, if you want to use that? Or I could go wait in the bathroom?" He suggested. Aria's head shot up and her cheeks immediately reddened. Ezra took that as a bad sign. "I mean, I have no problem with it! No problem at all! Please, carry on. It's just I- I didn't want you to be uncomfortable, is all." He rambled. Aria giggled quietly.

"I can go into the bathroom, I don't want to weird you out or anything." She said politely as she stood up, but Ezra quickly shut her down.

"No, no! No mother should ever have to feed her child in a bathroom. It doesn't weird me out, I promise. I actually… I actually think it's kind of beautiful." He said a little sheepishly. Aria smiled softly and sat back down, pulling down her shirt and nursing bra less tentatively this time. Nathan hastily attached his mouth to her breast, sucking a little harder than usual. Aria winced slightly.

"Does it hurt?" Ezra asked, growing increasingly embarrassed at how inexperienced he was with babies. Aria shook her head.

"Only sometimes, and it's not too bad. It's definitely worth it." She replied, softly stroking Nathan's head. She was surprised at how quickly she had relaxed; she never breastfed in front of Noel and it took months before she felt comfortable enough to do it with her friends around. Ezra lingered his gaze, truly finding the sight breathtaking. After a few moments he turned his attention back to the fridge, searching for the remnants of last nights Chinese take out.

It wasn't hard seeing as Ezra rarely kept his fridge stocked, and thirty minutes later Aria and Ezra were sat on the floor surrounded by empty boxes and containers, with Nathan asleep once again on the bed. Dinner was paired with easy conversation between the two of them, and Ezra was glad to see the return of the witty, bold and self assured girl he met at the bar. When the topic of talk turned to art, they realised they were both fans of Dina Oganova, a photographer who had an exhibition on in Philadelphia.

"Maybe we could go together?" Ezra suggested in a flurry of confidence. Aria beamed, revealing her white teeth.

"I would love to! I've been trying to convince my friends to come with me for ages but none of them are interested." She explained. She thought that she might have had a chance with Spencer, but with finals coming up Spencer had little time for anything but studying.

"How's this Saturday?" Ezra asked. Aria contemplated for a second, trying to think whether Ella would be able to watch Nathan, before her face fell.

"I have work Saturday." She sighed.

"Sunday?" Ezra tried.

"I'm taking Nathan to my grandma's on Sunday. Monday?" Aria proposed.

"I'm teaching Monday, but I should be able to do the evening?" Ezra said hopefully. Aria nodded enthusiastically.

"As long as I can find someone to watch Nathan, the evening should be good!" Aria agreed with an excitement lacing her voice.

As the evening drew later Aria decided it was time she took Nathan home. Upon realising that Aria had no car with her, Ezra offered her a lift home, which she gratefully accepted. Much like dinner, the drive to Aria's house was decorated with laughter and conversation, ranging from theatre to travel to food. Neither wanted the car to stop when he pulled into Aria's street, but as it was a dead end Ezra was left with no choice. They sat in silence for a few moments, each staring at each other with an intensity that invited the other to make the first move. In the end they leant in simultaneously, their lips meeting over the centre console. Once again sparks flew through their bodies as their lips and tongues reacquainted. Aria moved her right hand to the back of Ezra's head, pushing him closer to her in an attempt to deepen the kiss. Ezra's fingers danced up and down her spine from the base of her neck to the bottom of her waist, as if he was unsure where to rest his hands. Eventually he lay them in the small of her back. Nathan (for once) seemed to allow his mother these minutes of heaven, as he stayed sleeping quite happily in his child seat in the back.

After what felt like seconds but was actually a large matter of minutes, Aria and Ezra reluctantly pulled away from each other.

"I should probably go inside now." Aria said a little sadly. "Thank you, for everything. I can't wait for Monday." She said, lighter now.

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual." Ezra agreed as he reached in the back to undo Nathan's seat belt. Aria noticed him struggling a little, so took over for him, doing it in a matter of seconds. Knowing she'd never leave if she didn't now, she quickly opened her and Nathan's door, getting out and swiftly picking up Nathan's car seat. Once she had set it up to become a stroller again, she leant into the car and placed a soft chaste kiss on Ezra's lips.

"Good night." She smiled. Era returned the gesture.

"Night, Aria. Night, Nathan." He said, craning his neck so he could see the baby who was patiently waiting in his stroller. Aria's heart fluttered, loving the attention that Ezra gave to her son. When they were walking home earlier Ezra would constantly lean over the stroller to make funny faces and coo at Nathan. It was adorable and, don't tell anyone this, but kind of a turn on.

Both Aria and Ezra went to bed with a smile that night, each willing the days away until they could see each other again. Aria had a handful of texts from Noel, but she decided to read them in the morning, not wanting to put a sour end to the day. Nathan even slept all through the night, which was virtually unheard of. Yes, today was, on the whole, a pretty damn excellent day. If only it could be that way everyday.

"So, which one of you wants to be the best aunty in the entire world?" Aria asked the next day, looking between Spencer, Emily and Hanna as they sat at The Brew. Nathan was currently happily gurgling on Emily's lap, grabbing a lock of her hair in his tiny fist and tugging it gently.

"I think Nathan owns a onesie that states it's already me?" Hanna piped up, referring to one of the many slogan-ed outfits that Hanna frequently purchased Nathan.

"Great, so you'll watch him on Monday night?" She asked playfully, taking a sip from her coffee with a smirk. Hanna spluttered on her chai latte.

"Sorry, Ar, but Sean's coming round. I'm trying to get him into bed and no offence but having the product of a teenage pregnancy there would kind of be the biggest cock block ever." Hanna said bluntly. Spencer leaned over and said lowly in Hanna's ear that saying 'no offence' didn't make an insult any less offensive. Aria didn't pay much notice as she turned to Emily.

"Em, how about you? Look how great you get on!" Aria enthused, gesturing to Nathan who was now sucking on Emily's hair. Emily looked down and grimaced, extracting the hair from his mouth.

"Sorry, Aria, I have this huge swim meet. You know I would if I could." Emily sympathised. She knew that Aria very rarely asked for babysitting as she hated spending time apart from Nathan, so guessed she must be pretty desperate.

"Spencer? Come on, help a girl out." Aria pouted, turning to her friend who was purposefully avoiding Aria's gaze.

"There's a chem test on Tuesday, and an English assignment. Nathan's not exactly the perfect study buddy." She said awkwardly, feeling bad for blowing her friend off. Aria sighed, wondering what Spencer would say if she knew Aria spent last night making out with the man who _set_ that English assignment.  
"Have you got an extra shift at work or something?" Emily asked as she bobbed Nathan on her knee, giggling as he clapped his hands together in glee. Aria smiled sheepishly.

"No, I… I actually have a date." She said. All three girls' heads snapped up, looking at Aria with elated and excited eyes.

"Aria, that's great!" Emily said in a congratulatory tone.

"Who's it with!?" Hanna asked urgently.

"Is it with _Ezra_?" Spencer smirked, dying to know more about this mystery man. Aria blushed.

"Yes, it's with _Ezra_ , and I really really like him which is why I would really really appreciate if one of you could look after Nathan." She pleaded, sticking out her bottom lip in the way she used to do when she wanted something from her parents.

"Only if we get to hear more about this guy." Hanna instructed, just as Nathan started to cry, reaching his chubby arms out towards his mommy. Aria was silently thankful to be saved by the bell (or saved by the screaming child) and scooped Nathan out of Emily's arms. She pressed her nose to his clothed butt and recoiled at the smell.

"He needs changing, I'll be right back." Aria said, before picking up her changing bag and whisking Nathan off to the bathroom. Emily cringed at the thought that Nathan had pooped while she was holding him, and mentally swore to adopt _children_ rather than _babies_ when she was older.

Whilst Aria was gone, a phone started ringing at the table. After all of the girls checked to see if it was theirs, they realised Aria had left hers on her chair. Spencer picked it up and looked at the screen before smiling at the girls.

"It's Ezra." She said, showing the girls the screen with the name plastered on the top bar.  
"Does it have a picture!?" Hanna asked excitedly, even though she could see as well as Spencer that it didn't.

"It doesn't even have a freaking last name." Spencer huffed, before her eyes developed a mischievous glint. "Shall we answer it?"

"Yes!" "No!" Hanna and Emily said simultaneously. Spencer decided to listen to Hanna and pressed the green button, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Spencer said in her best Aria impression which was (rather scarily) very good. She pressed speaker phone and held the phone in the middle of the group. Hanna looked ready to wet herself with excitement, whilst Emily constantly looked towards the restroom door in fear that Aria would return.

"Hey! I was just checking to see if you've found someone to watch Nathan yet, because if so I thought I could book the tickets now." Ezra said cheerily. Spencer furrowed her brow- there was something very familiar about his voice. Hanna and Emily didn't seem to recognise it, however, so Spencer guessed it was just her imagination. Suddenly Spencer remembered she had to reply.

"Oh, yeah, um, my friend Spencer said she'd look after him." She said in her creepily accurate Aria voice, mentally damning herself as now she'd have to have a baby as a guest at her study party.

"That's great. Remind me to give her an 'A' in her assignment on Tuesday." He chuckled. All three girls gasped silently, not believing what they just heard. In a panic Spencer made up something about Nathan waking up and she'd have to call him back before she hung up, her mouth wide open.

"Oh my God." Spencer whispered.

"Bitch is dating Fitz!" Hanna squealed with a mix of giddiness, disbelief, shock and a hint of jealousy.

"Is that legal?" Emily asked in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, he's not _her_ teacher." Spencer said in a matter of fact way, but she looked slightly perturbed.

"But he is _ours_ , so that's like… weird, right?" Emily checked with the girls to see that they were on the same page. Spencer nodded in confirmation.

"I think it's hot." Hanna shrugged. "Definitely an upgrade from Noel." She added.

"But, he's _old_." Spencer pointed out.

"No older than Wren." Hanna rebutted, earning evils from both Spencer and Emily.

"Do you think they've…?" Emily asked, giving up on checking the door now that she was too into her gossip.

"Ew, _Emily_! I don't want to think about my best friend having sex with my English teacher!" Spencer protested. Emily gasped.

"I was going to say 'kissed', but thanks for that mental image." Emily grimaced.

"We need to get _all_ the juicy details when she gets back." Hanna declared.

"No, she can't know we answered the phone. Besides, this is _Aria_ we're talking about. We won't know whether they're sleeping together until she gets pregnant with her second child." Spencer rolled her eyes.

"Imagine a Fitz-Montgomery baby." Hanna gushed.  
"I think we're getting carried away, they haven't even been on a date yet." Emily reminded.

"This is so weird." Spencer shook her head, taking another sip from her coffee.

"What's so weird?" Aria asked as she walked back in with a freshly diapered Nathan.

"You dating Fitz." Hanna blurted.

"Hanna!" Spencer and Emily chastised. Hanna shrugged.

"Wait, how do you know about Ezra?" Aria asked slowly, looking between all three girls. Hanna and Emily looked to Spencer, who was looking intently into her coffee. "Spencer?" Aria interrogated in her best strict voice, not dissimilar to the one she used when Nathan would suck on her keys or throw his bottle.

"Well… we kind of answered your phone. And I kind of pretended to be you." Spencer admitted guiltily. " _But_ I'll take Nathan for you on Monday so don't be too mad."

"Guys!" Aria whined. "I was going to tell you in my own time!"  
"Right, and would that be before or after the wedding?" Hanna scoffed.

"I'd hope before, seeing as she wouldn't be able to marry him for two years." Spencer muttered.

"Unless they elope. You know, grab Nathan, a witness and a condom and get a midnight train to Vegas." Hanna joked. Aria sighed and redid some of the buttons Nathan had un-popped.

"See, this is exactly why I didn't want to tell you." Aria mumbled.

"...Sorry, Aria." Emily apologised, even though she was the only one who had kept quiet this whole time. "It'll just take a little getting used to, the idea of you and Mr Fitz."  
"Ezra." Aria corrected. "Anyway, I need to go drop Nathan off at Noel's and get ready for work. I'll see you guys later." She said, putting Nathan in his stroller and collecting her bag and phone. The girls all said goodbye uncomfortably and waited until she left The Brew to speak.

"I think she might be mad." Hanna said eventually.

"Oh, she's definitely mad." Spencer confirmed. Emily bit her lip.

"We probably shouldn't have done that." She said quietly. The other girls nodded.

 **(A/N): Sorry for the rather abrupt ending, but the chapter was getting far too long! Ezra and Aria have finally kissed, and the girls know about who Ezra is! Please review with your thoughts and suggestions, it really does make my day and will get the next chapter up quicker!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Aria rang on Noel's doorbell for the third time, nervously checking her phone for the time yet again. She gently pushed Nathan's stroller back and forth in an attempt to keep him from crying. September was coming to a close and the temperature had turned overnight. Whilst yesterday was sunny enough for ice creams in the park, today was the sort of day you'd need a hat, scarf and gloves. Therefore, Nathan was wearing his woollen hat that looked like a brown bear, his blue and grey striped scarf and his matching mittens. Aria, however, stood shivering in her work uniform, which consisted of a thin red polo top reading 'Joe's Pizza Parlour' and black skinny jeans. Frustrated, she rang the buzzer again, this time pressing her finger down unnecessarily long and unnecessarily hard. Finally, someone came to the door.

"Hey, Aria." The tall figure said, eyes raking up and down her body making her uncomfortable.  
"Hi, Eric. Is Noel in?" Aria asked the older Kahn brother who was pretty much a carbon copy of Noel; douchebaggery and all.

"You just missed him." Eric shrugged. "Why, decided to follow through after all?" He added with a smirk, clearly having heard about the 'restroom incident' himself. Aria could feel herself turn red with embarrassment.

"No, he said he'd have Nathan while I worked." Aria bit her lip, looking down at the six month old and desperately trying to think of something to do. Eric seemed to feel something akin to sympathy for Aria, as his face softened and he looked around his house.

"My mom's in, she'll probably look after him?" He offered. Aria shook her head.

"I can't ask her to do that, she already does it enough." Aria said with a hint of bitterness, knowing that Nathan was often dumped with Mrs Kahn while Noel went out partying. Upon noticing Aria's tear filled eyes, Eric sighed.

"Look, I know my brother can be an ass sometimes, but give him some slack. He's only sixteen." Eric reasoned. Aria smacked her lips.

"So am I, but I still manage to actually be there for my son." Aria reminded, not even trying to hide her annoyance. Eric puffed out his cheeks and exhaled.

"I know." He eventually nodded in agreement. "…You're a good mom, Aria."

 _"Noel?" Aria asked, stroking her 7 month belly._

 _"Yeah?" He answered without taking his eyes off his video game. Aria licked her lips and looked at Noel's face, silently begging him to look at her._

 _"Do you think I'm going to be a good mom?" She asked nervously, insecurity dripping off her tone. Noel pressed a few buttons and cheered at his victory before replying, still staring straight at the screen._

 _"I don't know, do I?" He shrugged. "You'll just have to wait and see."_

 _Aria nodded, willing herself not to start crying because she knew it would annoy Noel._

 _"Yeah." She said quietly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."_

"Hello?" Ezra said over the phone, silencing Hardy who was currently singing along very loudly to AC/DC.  
"Hi, it's Aria." Aria answered, even though Ezra knew seeing as he had caller ID. "I'm really, really sorry to ask you this but I have to go to work and Noel was supposed to watch Nathan but he's not home and all of the girl's are busy and my parents are out of town and I didn't know-"

"Aria, it's fine, I can watch Nathan." Ezra interrupted her frantic ramble with a small smile. Hardy immediately turned off the music and gave Ezra a glare, the sort that said 'you are so dead when you hang up this phone'.

"Thank you so much, I really owe you." Aria gushed. "I'll be there in like five minutes, is that okay?"

"That's fine, see you soon, Aria." Ezra said, before hanging up the phone. "Now, Hardy, before you say anything-"

"I thought we had this conversation. Actually, dude, I think we've had this conversation about a million times. This. Girl. Is. Bad. News." Hardy warned.

"You know what, Hardy? You've never even met her, so…" He said, not counting the time Hardy told Aria to stay away.

"It doesn't matter. I've never met Hannah Montana but I know she's a sixteen year old chick, and therefore would _never date her._ And she doesn't even have a kid!" Hardy ranted. Ezra shook his head.

"You just don't understand, and she's coming over in like ten minutes so if you're going to carry on like this maybe you should go home." Ezra sulked.

" _She's_ coming over? Or her son?" Hardy questioned. Ezra licked his drying lips.

"Her son. But we're seeing each other on Monday. Alone." Ezra argued. Hardy groaned in exasperation.

"This girl is using you, dude. To her you're just a free babysitter who she can make out with when she's lonely." Hardy said harshly, making Ezra flinch. Was there any truth to what he was saying?

"You just don't understand." Ezra mumbled, clearing away the beer bottles before Aria arrived.

"I understand plenty, man. You're horny and she's hot, but there are way more cons than pros."

Ezra couldn't reply, as the doorbell went. After giving Hardy a warning glare, he walked over to the door to see a rather stressed looking Aria and adorable looking Nathan. A smile grew across Aria's face as soon as she saw Ezra.

"Hey." She said slightly breathlessly, as she had just carried Nathan up the three flights of stairs due to the elevator being broken.

"Hi, Aria. Hi, Nathan." Ezra smiled, before stepping forward and kissing Aria lightly on the lips. Aria smiled and blushed before biting her lip slightly.

"So, my shift finishes at eight, I can probably get back here for eight thirty but if I don't could you feed Nathan? He has baby food in his bag." She explained, taking the bag off her shoulder and handing it to Ezra. Hardy stayed quiet in the background, observing the interaction.

"Of course, that's fine." He said, picking Nathan out of the stroller and waving at the little boy, who in return raised a chubby hand. Ezra giggled at his attempt of communication. Aria's heart flipped at the interaction.

"I have to go, I'm already running late but I'll be back as soon as possible." Aria said in a rush.

"Hey, my friend Hardy can give you a lift if you're running late?" Ezra offered. Hardy, who was obscured from Aria's view, started shaking his head wildly, making big crosses in the air with his arms. Aria sucked in her lips, clearly not wanting to be rude but also not wanting to be late.

"It's fine." She eventually said, although she could already hear her boss shouting at her.

"No, no, I insist. Hardy, give Aria a lift to work." Ezra instructed. Hearing the finality in his voice, Hardy stepped forwards, making himself visible to Aria.

"Hey." He said awkwardly.

"Hi." Aria replied with equal tension.

"We better get going." Hardy huffed, picking up his car keys from Ezra's counter and walking out the door. Aria apprehensively followed him, leaving Ezra and Nathan by themselves.

"Okay, buddy, it's party time."

The walk to the car was silent, as was the first two minutes of the journey (aside from Hardy asking for directions). Finally, Hardy felt the need to say something.

"Listen. Clearly, Ezra likes you. A lot. Now, I've seen him being fu-" He stopped himself from swearing, feeling weird cussing in front of a sixteen year old. " _screwed_ over by girls before, so you understand why I'm apprehensive about you?" He asked, looking Aria sternly in the eye. Aria nodded.

"I get it. Really, I do. Believe me, _I_ don't understand why he likes me either." Aria said with a small shrug. At this comment, and at the look in her eyes, Hardy's expression softened.

"No, don't say that." Hardy shook his head. "I'd give the same talk even if you were Mila Kunis."  
Aria laughed softly.

"I have absolutely no intention of screwing Ezra over." Aria promised, holding up a pinky for emphasis. Hardy looked at the finger and chuckled.

"You really are sixteen, aren't you?" He asked rhetorically. Aria huffed- if there was anything she hated, it was being treated like a child. She prided herself on her maturity, and didn't appreciate being reminded of her age or teenage status. "I'm kidding." Hardy added, upon seeing her wounded expression. Aria smiled slightly, but still felt a little offended, and was grateful when they pulled up at the pizza parlour.

"Thanks for the ride. If you ever want a free extra topping, it's on me." She joked, getting out the car. Hardy laughed.

"I'll bear that in mind. Have a good shift." He said kindly, starting to warm to this chick.

"I'll try. Sorry for ruining your bro night." Aria apologised. Hardy waved his hand flippantly.

"You didn't ruin it. Just added another little bro." Hardy kidded, before pulling away. "See you later, Aria." He called out.

"Bye, Hardy." Aria replied as she stepped into the pizza joint.

She was immediately overwhelmed with the smell of grease, meat and sweat, and had to remind herself (as she did every time that she went to work) that she was doing this for Nathan.

"Hey." Josh, the other person working today's shift greeted. He was 21 and had shoulder length brown hair that he wore in a top knot. He liked indie grunge artists and read graphic novels and was the sort of person you could imagine being a bit of a loser, but he somehow managed to pull it off with his hipster sort of vibe.

"Hi." Aria smiled politely, getting her apron from her hook and tying it around her waist. "Is it busy today?"  
"Not really. Joe's pissed that you're late." He warned. Aria sighed, knowing she'd have to talk to her pervy boss before she went home.

"I couldn't find anyone to watch Nathan. His dad wasn't home." Aria rolled her eyes, still pissed at Noel for letting her down yet again. Josh smiled sympathetically.

"You shouldn't put up with him. You deserve better." He said, placing a hand on Aria's shoulder. She smiled, but couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable. She liked Josh, but he could get a little too flirty for her liking.  
"Thanks, Josh." She said tightly, before moving to straighten up the takeout menus sitting on the counter, silently praying that a customer would come in soon.

When Hardy arrived back to Ezra's apartment, he was greeted with a fully grown man putting on stupid voices as he read to a giggling baby boy.

" _Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs_." Ezra read in a high girly voice, making Nathan squeal.

"Dude, what sort of kid's book is that from?" Hardy asked as he helped himself to a beer from Ezra's fridge. Ezra's head turned up at the sound of his voice, not realising until now that he was back.

" _Jane Eyre_." Ezra said, holding up the large book to Hardy. "I don't have any children's books." He added as explanation.

"Well, he seems to be enjoying it." Hardy shrugged, gesturing to the baby who was slapping the book in protest at Ezra's pause in recital. Ezra chuckled and carried on reading the book that was probably too advanced for most of his students to read, let alone a six month baby. Nathan gurgled in delight as Ezra switched between deep grumbly voices and squeaky high tones and goofy cartoon impressions. Hardy cracked open his beer and observed, slightly shocked with how comfortable the pair seemed together; he had always penned his best friend as the sort of person who avoided babies at all costs, but here he was laughing along with the tiny human being as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The buzzer sounded, signalling someone had come into the pizza parlour. Aria looked up from her book and sighed, hastily standing up.

"Josh, can you serve these two?" Aria asked quietly, trying to keep her head down.

"Why?" Josh replied in a whisper, sizing up the two teenagers who had just walked in. Aria was about to reply when one of the visitors spoke up.

"Fancy seeing you here." Noel smiled sickly. "Nice outfit."  
"What are you doing here?" Aria asked flatly. Noel laughed.

"Just getting a pizza. I must say so far I am not impressed with my customer service." He sneered, glaring at Aria.

"You were supposed to have Nathan today, you said you'd watch him while I worked." Aria said angrily. Noel raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know why I would say that, seeing as I have a date tonight." He said, gesturing towards Jenna.

"Hello, Aria." Jenna said calmly. "Are you okay? You sound pretty stressed." She added, faking sympathy.  
"Why would I be stressed, Jenna?" Aria asked sardonically. " _Maybe_ I'm stressed because the father of my child, and _your_ date, is a jackass who spends more time looking in the mirror than looking after his son? _Maybe_ I'm stressed because I have to _work_ in this stupid place, while Noel gets to come here on _dates_. _Maybe_ I'm stressed because-"

"Aria Montgomery." Joe's voice bellowed from behind her. "My office. Now."

Aria closed her eyes and fought back tears at the sound of her bosses voice. When she opened them all she could focus on were Noel and Jenna's matching smirks.

Ezra looked at his watch when he heard the doorbell go, wondering whether Hardy might have left something behind as it was way too early for Aria to be back. Nonetheless, when he opened the door he saw Aria, tear stained and trembling. Instinctively he pulled her towards him and wrapped her in a hug, stroking her back as he kissed her head.  
"What's wrong?' He asked softly once she had calmed down a little. She pulled away from his chest and looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

"I got fired." She whimpered. "Noel came in, and I got mad at him and then I got fired. What am I going to do, Ezra?" She fretted. Ezra looked deep in thought, biting his lip in concentration. Nathan, who was until now having a nap on Ezra's bed, woke up at the sound of Aria's voice and immediately started crying for his mommy. Aria took a shaky breath and walked over to her baby, picking him up and bobbing him up and down, tears still falling down her face. She sat down on the bed, burying her head into Nathan's and inhaling his sweet scent in the hope of calming her nerves. Ezra walked over and sat next to her.

"Aria, it will be okay. You can find another job." He comforted, his hand making soothing circles on her back.

"Where? I have no qualifications. I didn't even sit my SATs." She admitted, embarrassed by how much of a failure she was; in her eyes, anyway.

"Yeah, but for good reason." Ezra argued, looking down to Nathan who was now falling asleep again in Aria's arms. "And you're smart, Aria, _really_ smart- anybody can see that. All you need is an interview to prove yourself and you'll get any job in the bag." Ezra encouraged, truly believing his words. Aria managed a small grin.

"Thank you. Maybe I'm overreacting, I'm sure there's a barista job at The Brew with my name on it." She said in quasi optimism. Ezra wrapped his arm around her, hoping he wasn't overstepping any boundaries.

"You won't be in dead end jobs forever. Once you get your English and Journalism degree you'll be unstoppable." He enthused. Aria gave a sad smile.

"You generally need to have done high school English before you can do it at college, Ezra." She reminded glumly. Ezra's face fell for a second, before it lit up as if he had an idea.

"I'll be your English teacher!" He said, as if it was the smartest idea in the world. Aria raised an eyebrow.

"You _would've_ been my English teacher, if I was still in school." She corrected.

"No, no, I'll be your private English teacher. More like tutor, I guess. We can meet up a few times a week and I'll walk you through the syllabus, then at the end of the year you can sit the exams with your classmates!" He pitched, an excited gleam in his eyes. There was a similar one in Aria's, too, but she masked it with a dubious expression.

"I don't know, I can't ask you to do that. And besides, won't I be really behind?" She asked doubtfully. Ezra shook his head.

"You're not asking me, I'm offering you. I want to do this, Aria. And you've read all of the key texts already, if anything you're ahead of the class." He pressed. "Please, Aria, say yes."  
Aria bit her lip, looking into his deep blue eyes for what felt like an eternity, before finally nodding.

"Yes." She said in little more than a whisper. "But I'm not calling you Mr Fitz." She added playfully. Ezra chuckled.

"Deal." He agreed, before planting a lingering kiss on Aria's lips, wanting to deepen it but feeling unable to due to the baby on her lap. Aria must have sensed this as she pulled away and placed Nathan on his back on the bad, before latching her arms around Ezra's neck, pulling him in for a passionate kiss. Ezra gingerly traced his tongue around Aria's bottom lip, revelling in the taste of her strawberry lip gloss. Aria opened her mouth, allowing Ezra's tongue to enter. She moved one hand up to tangle her fingers into his hair, and Ezra's arms wrapped round her waist and rested on her lower back. After a few minutes Aria pushed Ezra through the kiss until he was flat on his back, with Aria pressed on top of him. Ezra groaned at the change in position and the feel of Aria against him, and allowed himself for the pleasure for a a short time before he gently pushed Aria's shoulder, separating their lips.

"Maybe… Maybe we should stop." Ezra said breathlessly. Aria darted her tongue out to lick her lips before nodding.

"Yeah. Yeah, we probably should." She agreed, shifting herself off of Ezra and sitting on the edge of the bed, turning to stoke Nathan's tufts of dark hair. She smiled apologetically at the sleeping baby, as if to say 'Sorry I almost got it on while you were on the bed'. Aria was about to speak to Ezra when her phone rang. She checked the ID to see that her father was ringing her.

"Hey, dad." She greeted.

"Aria, where are you? I came to pick you up from work but you weren't there." Byron's worried voice travelled down the phone. Aria took a deep breath.

"Yeah, um… I was fired." She said quietly.

"What!? Why?" He asked, an angry tinge to his tone. Aria winced.

"I shouted at a customer." She informed vaguely. "Actually, I shouted at Noel."

"Oh." Byron said in a softer voice now. "Well, we can talk about that later. You need to get home before the Marin's arrive."  
"What?" Aria asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Ashley and Hanna are coming for dinner, remember?" Byron reminded. Aria sighed as she realised that Hanna would be coming round, no doubt bringing hundreds of questions and teasing comments with her.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I'll be there soon." She promised.

"Where are you, anyway? And where's Nathan?" Byron asked.

"We're both at The Brew." Aria lied. "We'll come home now." She added, hiding a smile at Ezra's disappointed face. After hanging up Aria explained the situation to Ezra and promised that she'd see him on Monday before leaving with her and Nathan. Ezra offered to give her a lift but Aria thought it would probably be best to give Nathan some air. Besides, it could be hard to explain to Mrs Marin why Hanna's English teacher was driving Aria home.

Aria was laughing at Nathan determinedly try to fit a triangle shaped block into a star shaped hole when she heard the doorbell ring, suggesting the arrival of the Marin's. When the sound of four high heels clacking against the wooden floor echoed up the stairs, her suspicions were confirmed. Scooping Nathan into her arms she made her way to the door, immediately met with squeals from both Hanna and Ashley when she came into sight. Byron was standing by the door with a polite smile, whilst Ella worked on the food in the kitchen.

"Let me see him!" Ashley grinned, extending her arms as an invitation to hold Nathan. Aria handed him over and internally sighed with relief when he didn't kick up a fuss. Hanna pressed a kiss on Nathan's forehead before hugging Aria.

"Sorry about earlier." She whispered into Aria's year.

"It's okay." Aria replied with a small smile. Truth be told she was still a little annoyed with her friends for going behind her back like that, but she knew it was done out of curiosity rather than cruelty.

"Girls, dinner won't be ready for another half an hour, why don't you two take Nathan upstairs and gossip for a little bit?" Ella suggested. Ashely pouted from her place by the door, holding Nathan closer to her chest.

"Oh, can't the little one stay down here? Please?" She begged, and then turned to Aria. "I promise I'll take good care of him." She swore, making Aria laugh.

"Please, I'd love you to take him. Feel free to keep him all week!" She joked.

"Don't tempt me, I might sneak him away in my handbag." Ashley teased.

"Okay, we're going upstairs now." Hanna interrupted, grabbing Aria's hand and dragging her into her bedroom. "Now, tell me _everything_ about you and Mr Fitz, and don't leave out any juicy details."

 **(A/N): So, the girls know about Ezra, Aria's been fired and now Ezra's going to be her tutor! What could go wrong? Please review, the next chapter is very special and I have a feeling a lot of you will like it, if you know what I mean;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"Hey there, sleepyhead!" Aria cooed as Nathan's eyes drifted awake. "You're going to Aunty Spencer's today! Are you excited?" She asked, tickling his tummy in order to get a giggle in response. She lifted him out of the cot and lay him on the changing table before walking over to his wardrobe.

"Oh, Nathy, you have more clothes than mommy!" She exclaimed as she sifted through his various outfits. Eventually she picked out a grey and white fair aisle patterned romper, a grey knitted cardigan and a matching hat and booties. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was hoping if she dressed Nathan nicely Spencer's parents might look at her less judgementally. Whilst their words were always sympathetic and supportive, their eyes and actions always had a hostility to them, as if they couldn't believe Spencer was friends with her.

Thirty minutes later and Spencer was holding a very stroppy Nathan, protesting wildly for his mother's return. Aria made Spencer promise she'd ring her if he got upset, but Spencer lovingly broke the promise so as not to ruin Aria's date.

"Nathan, honey, mommy's going out tonight." Spencer said in a tired voice. "But we can have fun here! Why don't we do some equations?"

Just as Spencer was about to carry Nathan upstairs, Veronica and Melissa returned from their shopping trip, laden with bags.

"Is Aria here?" Veronica asked upon noticing the baby in Spencer's arms.

"No, she's out, I'm looking after him." Spencer explained, wondering when 'hello' got dropped from the Hastings vocabulary.

"Couldn't the _father_ take him?" Melissa asked scornfully as she walked over to pour a glass of water. Veronica rubbed her temples, feeling a headache come along at the sound of the baby crying.

"The _father_ is more absent from Nathan than Hanna is from P.E." Spencer scoffed, rocking Nathan up and down. _Aria makes this look so easy._

"Can you get him to be quiet? I can't hear myself think." Veronica groaned.

"No, I think I'll just keep him crying like this, the sound relaxes me." Spencer said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to take him upstairs and see if I can get any studying done."

"Good luck with that." Melissa whispered, raising her eyebrows.

Meanwhile, Aria was approaching the door of 3b, her heart racing faster with each step she took. If she had been told four months ago that she would be going on a date with a suave, sophisticated older gentleman, she would have laughed in their face. Yet, here she was, about to go on her first date in… well, _ever_. Noel's idea of a date was going to his house and watching an action movie. Holding her breath, she lifted her hand to the door and knocked softly.

"Aria." Ezra said with an excited smile as he opened the door, before taking in her appearance. She was wearing a baby blue and pink block patterned dress with a big belt in the middle, and she had clearly spent some time on her hair and makeup whilst keeping it natural. She looked breathtakingly stunning. "You look incredible."

"Thank you." Aria smiled shyly, smoothing out the skirt of her dress. "Y-You look great, too." She added, gesturing towards his crisp shirt and ironed tie. Ezra chuckled and took Aria's hand, pulling her towards him so that he could do what he had been dying to do since he last saw her; kiss her. Conscious of not wanting to ruin her hair, he placed one hand on the small of her back and the other on her cheek. Aria instantly smiled into the kiss, wrapping her ams round his neck in order to keep herself up on her tiptoes. After a few minutes of leisurely kissing, Ezra pulled away.

"You ready to go?" He asked with a goofy smile plastered to his face.

"Ready." She nodded, her stomach flipping as Ezra held out his hand for her.

The drive to the exhibition was about forty five minutes, and Ezra saw this as an opportunity to find out even more about Aria. He suggested 20 questions, and although Aria laughed and accused him of acting like a teenage boy, she agreed to play the game. The questions started off innocently enough, with things such as favourite colours (purple for Aria, green for Ezra), but now that they were further on they were starting to get a little more daring with each other.

"First kiss?" Ezra asked, sneaking a glance at her in the corner of his eye. He saw a blush spread across her cheeks and a sheepish grin appear on her lips.

"Spencer. We were ten, and Ali dared us." Aria admitted. Ezra chuckled at the confession, imagining a tiny Aria reluctantly kissing a tiny Spencer. "But my first proper kiss was when I was thirteen, and that was with Noel." Aria added eventually. Ezra raised his eyebrows.

"You were with Noel since you were thirteen?" He asked. Aria laughed and shook her head.

"No. Ali told him I had a crush on him so he made out with me behind the bleachers at a lacrosse game. I thought that meant we were going out but the next day he completely blanked me and asked Emily out in homeroom." Aria explained, cringing as she relived the memory. She also remembered how she went home and sobbed into her mother's lap, but she didn't mention that part to Ezra.

"So… Noel went out with Emily?" Ezra asked, finding it strange to get a little character behind the faces he teaches every weekday. Again, Aria laughed.

"She turned him down. He's not exactly her type." She said with a concealed smirk, knowing it wasn't her place to out Emily to her English teacher. Deciding to swiftly move on before she spilt any secrets, she turned the tables to Ezra.

"What about you, who was your first kiss?

"Lisa McNulty, I was fourteen and we were on the trampoline in her back garden. I'm pretty sure her mom took a photo of us." He grimaced, remembering how their teeth clanked together and he didn't know what to do with his hands. Aria giggled and a mischievous glint flashed in her eyes.

"I need to see these photos." She declared. Ezra shot her down immediately.

"No, no you definitely don't. I didn't discover the concept of hair gel until my late teens, before that my hair was a curly mess. I looked like a brunette Ronald McDonald." He joked. Aria burst out laughing at the imagery.

"Now I _really_ need to see those photos. I can't even imagine your hair like that." She thought aloud.

"It's still like that when I first wake up, it's not a pretty sight." He confessed. Aria bit her lip with a small smile.

"Maybe I'll get to see that sometime." She said shyly, her eyes not quite able to meet Ezra's. His eyes widened slightly as he realised the insinuation, and then a big goofy grin graced his face.

"Maybe." He agreed. "Yeah, definitely."

The gallery was, as expected, incredible. The portraits and landscapes were captivating, and Aria and Ezra shared very little conversation as they took the art in. Of course, they sneaked a few kisses here and there, but they mainly walked around in comfortable silence, occasionally asking the other what they thought of a particular photograph.

"I like it." Aria nodded, studying the black and white picture. "Having the little girl at the front reminds you of how these people's decisions affect the younger generation. I like that all of the faces are in focus, it humanises rather than demonises them. Sometimes I think the scariest part of evil is that it comes from humans just like me and you."

"I agree." A voice said, and Aria was surprised when it wasn't Ezra's. Turning around, her jaw dropped.

"Oh my God, you're Laurel Tuchman." She said out loud, before mentally slapping herself. Beet red, she turned to Ezra. "This is Laurel Tuchman, she's a photographer. I'm Aria, by the way. I love your work." She added, facing the woman again. Laurel gave a small chuckle at Aria's nervousness.

"It's nice to meet you." Laurel said, smiling at Aria. "I've been overhearing your discussions throughout the whole exhibition. Your opinions are very perceptive, you have a great eye." She complimented making Aria giddy with glee.

"Thank you so much. That really means a lot coming from you." She gushed. Ezra stepped back and admired how gorgeous Aria was when she was excited.

"Are you a photographer?" Laurel asked.  
"Me? No. I mean, I take photos but… well, I'm not _you,_ or anything." She rambled, still starstruck.

"Do you have any of your photos with you now? I'd be interested to see." Laurel inquired. Aria was starting to believe she was dreaming- that she'd wake up to the sound of Nathan crying and go back to her life of bottles and baby food.

"Um, I have a few on my phone." Aria admitted, pulling out her iPhone from her purse. "I take most of them on my camera, but I don't have that with me."

She got up a black and white photo of Nathan in the bath, his tufts of hair poking upwards and a bubble bath beard on his chin. She shyly showed the photo to Laurel, who pursed her lips and nodded at the photo. She slowly flipped through more and more photos, most of Nathan but some of her friends and family and even a few self portraits.

"You're talented." Laurel said genuinely. "Is this your brother?" She asked, pointing to yet another photo of Nathan. This time he was playing with lettered blocks, and Aria had spelt out his name with them.

"My son." Aria corrected quietly. Laurel looked at her with surprise for a second, but quickly regained composure.

"Tell you what." She said, handing back the phone. "I've been looking for an assistant on a new project I'm doing. I've interviewed degree students but none of them have as much of a grasp on photography as you seem to. If you're interested I'd love to see you for an interview?"

Now Aria was sure she was dreaming. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to get words out, but all she could manage was a small squeaking sound. Ezra quickly stepped in.

"That would be incredible." He said on behalf of Aria. "But I think she's just worried about finding someone to look after her son." He explained, looking over to Aria for confirmation which she gave in the form of a small nod, even though truthfully it hadn't crossed her mind. Laurel flipped her hand dismissively.

"Bring him along! I used to take my kids into work all the time when they were little, I know how hard it can be being a working mother." She sympathised, mentally trying to judge how old Aria could be. She couldn't be more than twenty.

"That would be… amazing. Thank you so much." Aria enthused. _Wow,_ she thought to herself, _could it really be that everything is coming together?_

After exchanging contact details and a date for an interview, Ezra and Aria said goodbye to Laurel and finished walking round the exhibition. It was only two o'clock and Aria wasn't due to pick up Nathan until seven, leaving the couple five blessed hours left together. As they strolled through the gift shop in which they had to go through to exit, they discussed what to do next.

"Are you hungry?" Ezra asked as Aria studied various postcards, picking one to buy for Spencer as a thank you. "We could go get a bite to eat?"

Aria shrugged slightly, choosing between one of a man holding a baby and two twin girls.

"I'm not that hungry." She bit her lip and looked up at Ezra, an indiscernible light dancing in her eyes. "Maybe we could just go back to yours?"

Ezra looked a little dumbstruck and nodded like a dummy.

"We could do that." He agreed, slightly choking on his words. Aria darted her tongue out to lick her lips.

"Cool." She eventually said. _Cool? Why did I say cool?_ Aria damned herself mentally. Ezra suppressed a small smirk at her choice of words, before noticing Aria admiring a book of photographs by various photographers. He walked over and looked as Aria studied the pages, her eyes lighting up when she saw a photo she particularly liked.

"Do you want this?" He asked casually, holding the book up slightly. Aria shook her head.

"It's like twenty dollars, I can barely find fifty cents for Spencer's card." She mumbled whilst rustling through her purse. She pulled out what she thought was a dollar note, but in actuality was a dirty napkin she had used to wipe baby food off of Nathan's face. Embarrassed, she quickly stuffed it back in. When she looked up to see if Ezra had caught the slip, she found him standing at the cash desk with a copy of the book in his hand.

"Ezra, don't." She said sternly, storming over and trying to grab the book out of his hands. Ezra looked a little alarmed and pulled the book back.

"I'm buying it for _myself_." He clarified, taking a step towards the desk and then handing the money over to the cashier. Aria could feel herself going bright red.

"Oh." She mumbled. "Sorry."

Ezra grinned and thanked the cashier before handing the book over to Aria.

"I bought it for myself, to give to _you_ as a present." He said with a smirk that just screamed 'I'm-so-clever'. It kind of made Aria want to slap him, but she kissed him instead.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. "But I don't like feeling like charity."

Ezra widened his eyes and shook his head wholeheartedly.

"This isn't charity. This is just a boyfriend buying his girlfriend a present."

Both of their hearts stopped when they realised he used the 'B' and 'G' words. A small, sly smile grew on Aria's lips.

"You're my boyfriend?" She asked shyly, twirling a strand of hair round her finger. Her stomach tightened in fear that it may have been a slip of the tongue that he didn't intend on, but then he nodded sheepishly.

"If you'll take me?" He posed as a question rather than an answer. Aria reached for his hand and softly kissed his knuckle.

"Please." She said with a soft smile. Ezra grinned and stepped closer, closing the distance between their lips and kissing her with all the passion he could muster. Aria kissed back with equal emotion, but couldn't help feeling like maybe she was making a mistake by saying yes. She really liked Ezra and he clearly liked her, but there was more to it than that. She had a son, and a jealous ex-boyfriend who could easily make her life a misery if he wanted to. And don't even get her started on her parents, who were still wary with boys ever since one knocked her up at fifteen. Aria couldn't imagine what her father would say if he found out she had a twenty six year old high school teacher, but she could be pretty sure it wouldn't be positive. Similarly, no matter how progressive Ella may be, she would still probable be uncomfortable about her colleague dating her daughter. Then there was the added complication that Ezra taught her three best friends, which meant that the amount of time she would be able to spend with all of them together would be limited and most probably strained and awkward. However, when Ezra's tongue gingerly traced her lower lip, she forgot about everything apart from how incredible it felt when their bodies connected, and how he felt like a drug that she was getting hooked on terrifyingly fast.

Aria carried on insisting she wasn't hungry, but nonetheless Ezra stopped off at Paula's to buy them a pie to share. Half an hour later, the pie was finished, and Aria and Ezra were sitting on the couch, staring intently into each others eyes. Both of them knew what was coming; the tension in the air had been palpable ever since the kiss in the gift shop. It was Aria who made the first move, placing her hand on the back of his neck and lightly playing with the small tufts of hair there. Ezra grabbed hold of her waist and gently pulled her closer to him, before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Aria's free hand went up to Ezra's face, softly stroking his bottom lip with her thumb, her eyes fixated on his pout. Ezra unconsciously darted his tongue out to lick where her thumb had just been, making Aria smile softly. They leaned in at the same time, both sighing a little when their lips finally reconnected. Aria's hand travelled slightly from the nape of his neck to his upper back, dipping underneath his shirt and enjoying the movement of his back muscles as his arms encircled her waist, carefully moving her so that she was straddling his lap. Ezra groaned slightly at the sensation of Aria on top of him. He detached his lips from Aria's to pepper light kisses along her jawline and then sucked softly on her neck, his heart flipping when he heard a soft moan escape Aria's mouth. He felt her hands move to his head, gingerly pulling him closer to her neck and inviting him to suck harder, to which he happily obliged. Aria's fingers hovered over the top button of Ezra's shirt, before pulling away from his lips to look in his eyes, silently asking for permission. He nodded and she slowly and delicately undid the first few buttons, eventually letting Ezra take over as his speed was a bit more efficient. Once it was off, Aria soaked in the sight of new skin, tracing her fingers over his abdominals and nestling her head into his neck to inhale his scent. She started dotting small kisses across his shoulders, her hands placed on his bare chest. Ezra ran his hands through her chestnut hair, down her back and finally up again to toy the zip of her dress.

"May I?" He whispered. Aria shot her head up from where she was kissing her collar bone, worry suddenly etching her features. Panic coursed through Ezra as he thought that perhaps he was pushing her too far. Aria refused to look in Ezra's eyes, rather focussing on his shoulder, her head cast down slightly.

"I… I still have a bit of baby weight. A-And there are stretch marks on my stomach, and my thighs, and my… and my…" She trailed off, gesturing towards her chest. "And there's this, there's this line up my stomach, it's called the linea nigra, and it should go soon but-"

"Aria." Ezra whispered, silencing her. He placed a soft and chaste kiss on her lips. "You're beautiful."

Aria simply shook her head slowly, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Ezra softly wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.

"I'm not. Not anymore." She said quietly, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to stop herself from crying more. Ezra ran his hands up and down her arms in a comforting manner.

"I think you are, and none of what you've just told me could make me change my mind. If anything, it makes you _more_ beautiful." He said sincerely, trying to communicate with his actions and words how genuinely stunning he thought she was. A ghost of a smile haunted Aria's lips.

"Really?" She said in a small, insecure voice. Ezra nodded determinedly.

"We can stop, if you want." He reminded her. Aria bit her lip and finally looked Ezra in the eye, before finally shaking her head.

"No. No, I want to do this." She said surely, placing her hand over Ezra's and leaning in to kiss him again.

He kissed her back with every ounce of passion in his body before picking her up and walking them over to the bed. Aria latched her legs around his waist until he carefully placed her down on the mattress. He gently settled himself on top off her, with one leg on either side of her body, and kissed her once more. He made no move to go further, wanting this to be completely at Aria's speed, so waited until she sat up slightly, inviting Ezra to unzip her. His snaked his arms round her back, his hand once again resting on the small metal zipper.

"Are you sure?" He checked, smiling softly when Aria instantly nodded.

"I'm sure." She whispered, putting one hand softly on his cheek and looking into his crystal blue eyes. Ezra's breath hitched as he slowly pulled the zipper down, and Aria shrugged her shoulders out of the dress. The material fell around her waist, revealing her midnight blue bra and round pale breasts. Aria started to feel self conscious under Ezra's gaze and covered her chest with her arms.

"Aria." Ezra said softly, carefully holding her wrists and removing them from their shielded position. "You're beautiful." He promised with conviction. He placed light kisses from her neck to her collarbone, dotting them across her shoulders and then tracing down the right strap of her bra. His left hand trailed up to her breast, gently massaging it over the material. Aria whimpered and dropped her head into the crook of Ezra's shoulders. He then repeated the ministrations on her right breast before gingerly moving his hands to the hook around the back.

"Are you ready to take it off?" He asked. Aria bit her her lip before giving a small nod.

"I want to do it though." She said quietly. Ezra immediately retreated his hand and leant back as she slowly reached behind her back and unhooked herself. She hesitated slightly, but eventually let the bra fall off her arms, fully revealing her chest. Ezra's eyes travelled from her eyes to her breasts and them back again.

"Gorgeous." He said in a hushed voice, and Aria wasn't sure if he even meant to say it out loud. He ducked down to kiss her lips, then her jaw, neck, shoulder, collar bone and finally her breasts, giving each one equal attention with his lips and tongue. Aria softly moaned in high pitched staccatos, quietly as if they were secrets. After a while Aria trailed her hand down Ezra's chest, resting it on the buckle of his belt. Ezra detached his mouth from her breast to look her in the eyes.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Aria nodded whole-heartedly, darting her tongue out to lick her lips. A small smile grew on Ezra's face, before it fell slightly in realisation.

"Give me one second." He said quickly, holding up one finger. "Condom." He explained as he climbed out of bed. Aria nodded, trying to hide the flash of fear that swept through her.

She wasn't doubting that she wanted this, because she most certainly did, she was just worried that she would… disappoint. She had only ever been with Noel, and everything they did was pretty juvenile- one time they did it with _The O.C_ on in the background. Ezra was a lot more mature and experienced than Noel and, of course, her. She tried not to focus too much on the fact that Ezra had probably been with a lot more girls than she had boys, but she couldn't help but fear that her 'skills' would be inadequate for him. Whilst Ezra had gone into the bathroom to retrieve a condom ('why does he keep his condoms in the bathroom?' she had asked herself), Aria quickly pulled her dress off from her hips, leaving her in just her navy blue underpants. She silently thanked herself for wearing matching underwear and shimmied up so she was leaning against the bed frame, fighting her instinct to cover herself with the bedsheets.

Ezra shortly returned with a small foil packet in his hand, and Aria couldn't help but notice the tent in his pants. A twinge of excitement stirred within her at the thought that she had this effect on a grown man. He got onto the bed and knelt in front of her, soaking in the sight of her barely dressed body.

"You definitely want to do this?" He said softly, grinning when Aria nodded enthusiastically. Reaching out, she undid his belt and threw it on the floor, and then slowly pulled down his zipper with a shaky hand. Looking him in the eye, Aria hooked her hands in the side of his jeans and pulled them down. Ezra quickly shifted so he could pull the rest off and then resumed his position on top of her, now both only in their underwear. They carried on kissing with their hands and mouths roaming for several minutes until neither of them could take it anymore. Aria made the first move, reaching for the waistband of Ezra's boxers.

"I'm ready." She whispered, before Ezra could ask her.

By the time Aria had to leave Ezra's apartment to pick up Nathan from Spencer's, she had never felt more beautiful, or more loved, in her life.


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm so sorry this has been so long, I honestly forgot all about this fic! I don't know if people are still reading but if there are I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Chapter Ten**

Three weeks later and Aria and Ezra were still going steady. They had got themselves into a daily routine; Aria and Nathan would visit Ezra in the morning before he left for school and they would all eat breakfast together, then Ezra would drop them both off at Laurel's photography studio (where Aria was now doing a paid internship) and come pick them up at 4:15pm. From there they'd go to The Brew, where Ezra would do an hour of tutoring Aria in English. After that they would usually go back to Ezra's apartment, sometimes staying for dinner but more often than not having to go home at 6:30pm so as not to raise suspicion from her parents, who were still oblivious to the whole thing. Although they very nearly kissed in the park all those weeks ago, they thought it was best to keep their relationship on the down low until Byron and Ella found out. Aria was getting rather tired of having to pretend Ezra was nothing more than her English tutor in public, and for being pretty much constrained to the four walls of his apartment. There were so many things she wanted to do with him; visit more art galleries, go to museums, see shows, take trips to bookstores- more than anything, she just wanted to be able to hold his hand. Which was why, today, she was telling her parents.

Aria decided to wait a little at dinner before dropping the news, making polite conversation and being a generally perfect daughter to sweeten them up a little. Nathan was happily babbling away in his high chair, proudly clutching his sippy bottle which he could now hold all by himself. Between bites of her own dinner Aria would spoon some pureed sweet potato baby food into his mouth, laughing as he made appreciative gurgling noises at the food. After Nathan finished eating Mike (who ate with the speed of light) offered to play with him in the living room until Aria was ready to give him a bath, so Aria took this as the opportunity to break the news. Swirling some spaghetti round her fork, she began.

"So, I was wondering if I could invite someone to dinner this Friday." She said casually, subtly gaging her parents reactions.

"Of course, one of the girls?" Ella inquired. Aria shook her head, pausing slightly before continuing.

"No, actually it's someone I've been seeing." She said slowly. "Romantically." She added, in case that wasn't clear. From the look on her parents' faces, however, it was very clear. Byron looked mildly constipated, whilst Ella's forehead gained a dozen creases.

"Do we know this boy?" Byron asked uncomfortably, praying to God that she wouldn't say it was Noel. Aria bit her lip, not really knowing how to go about this question. In the end she decided she might as well bite the bullet and go for it.

"Mom does. He, um, he teaches at Rosewood High. It's Ezra. Ezra Fitz." She said in the most confident voice she could muster.

The silence was deadly for a few moments, with both Byron and Ella's mouths hanging open slightly. Surprisingly, it was Byron who spoke first.

"How did this even happen?" He asked, his tone indiscernible. Aria gulped.

"We met a few months back and kept bumping into each other and eventually made friends. We've only been dating for about a month but it's been going really well so I would love you guys to get to know him." She pleaded, whilst still trying to sound mature. Ella looked to Byron, concern painted on her face.

"Sweetie, Ezra is a lot older than you." She said carefully. Aria shook her head.

"Only ten years, that's not that much. Emily's dad is twelve years older than her mom." She argued. Ella exhaled and rubbed her forehead, trying to wrap her brain around this.

"And is… is he aware of your… circumstances?" Byron asked in an awkward way.

"You mean Nathan? Of course, Ezra's great with him." She insisted. Byron spluttered a little, uncomfortable with the idea that this strange man had been around his grandson.

"Aria, honey, are you sure his intentions are… pure?" Ella asked gently, but that didn't stop Aria from looking as if she'd been slapped in the face.

"Mom, you _know_ Ezra. You know what a good person he is." She stared Ella down, wanting her to feel guilty for ever suggesting such a thing. Ella darted her tongue out to lick her lips- Ezra _was_ a good man. He was always kind and polite and a great teacher to the class… The class that Aria would have been in.

"Don't you think you're a little young to be getting into a relationship?" Byron questioned. Aria raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Dad, relationships aren't exactly new territory for me. I have a seven month old son who could attest to that." She had to fight rolling her eyes, knowing she couldn't get too sassy if she wanted her parents on her side.

"You must understand why we're a little… dubious, though?" Ella reasoned.

"I do, I understand, which is why I want you to meet him and see how wonderful he is before you pass any judgements. Please?" She begged, her eyes wide and lips pouted. Aria looked from Byron, to Ella, back to Byron and then to Ella again. After what felt like an eternity, Ella sighed.

"Okay. He can come to dinner this Friday." She relented.  
"But he's not staying the night." Byron quickly added. "And he's not allowed upstairs."

Aria nodded enthusiastically, a huge smile on her face.

"Thank you, thank you so much." She gushed. Ella had to restrain herself from smiling too.

"You're welcome, now go run Nathan's bath."

Aria giggled as Nathan splashed about happily in the water, gripping her shampoo bottle and playing with it as if it were a toy.

"Honey, shampoo is for cleaning, not playing! That's what duckie's for!" She said in a baby voice, swapping the bottle for a rubber duck that Ezra had bought him a week ago. It was supposed to look like William Shakespeare, who was a bit beyond Nathan's literary range, but he loved it anyway. Just as Aria was about to put some baby shampoo into Nathan's hair, her phone rang, her ID saying it was Noel. Sighing, she picked up the phone.  
"Hello?" She greeted as civilly as she could. Since the pizza parlour incident Aria hadn't even bothered asking Noel to take Nathan, not wanting to have to communicate with him. Of course, Noel never offered or requested Nathan, so they were going on over three weeks without seeing each other.

"I need Nathan tomorrow night." He said, not bothering to say 'hi'. Aria pursed her lips suspiciously.

"Why?" She questioned. Not once in the entire seven months of Nathan's existence had Noel _asked_ to look after him.

"My grandparents are coming from Virginia. They want to see him. Can you drop him at mine after school?" He asked impatiently.

"I've got work till 4:30 and then I'm going to The Brew with Ezra. It'll probably make more sense for you to pick Nathan up from there." She said, slightly distracted at Nathan putting the duck's head in his mouth. Noel groaned.

"You're still with Mr Fitz?" He asked rhetorically. "Whatever, I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that he hung up.

"Charming." Aria muttered, finally shampooing Nathan's small tufts of brown hair. Looking at her son, she wished he didn't look so much like his dad. From his glinting eyes to his upturned mouth to his dark hair, everything about him screamed 'Noel'. People always commented on their likeness, and the only person who seemed to see similarity between Nathan and Aria was Ezra. He said that they had the same wide, enchanting eyes and plump pouty lips. Thinking of Ezra, a smile crept up on Aria's lips. If Noel was going to have Nathan tomorrow, that meant they had a night to themselves, and now that her parents knew about him they could do whatever they wanted…

As Nathan slept soundly in his cot, Aria flipped through the photos she had gotten developed at work earlier, pausing on one she took of a pregnant woman smoking at a bus stop. Laurel loved the photo and said it was 'hauntingly provocative' but she couldn't publish it as Aria didn't get the woman's permission. Aria was considering giving it to Spencer when her phone rang. Hoping to God it wasn't Noel ringing to retract his offer, she quickly picked up so that Nathan wouldn't be woken by the ringing.

"Hello?" She said in a whisper.

"Hi, it's Ezra. Sorry, is this a bad time?" He asked. A smile broke out on Aria's face at the sound of his voice as she stood to leave Nathan's room.

"No, not at all, I just didn't want to wake Nathan." She said, louder now. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see how you were, and was wondering whether you decided to tell your parents in the end." He explained, and Aria was pretty sure she could hear The Fray playing in the background.

"I'm good. Really good, actually. I told my parents and they were surprisingly chilled about it." She gushed.

"That's great! Does this mean I can hold your hand in Rosewood?" He asked, his smile creeping through his voice. Aria's heart flipped.

"I guess it does…" She mused quietly. "Will you hold it tomorrow? Say, half seven, outside the Barbican theatre?" She added teasingly.

"What's happening at the Barbican?" Ezra asked with a hint of excitement.

"A modern retelling of the Greek tragedy Oresteia. Apparently it's incredible." She said, getting a review for it up on her phone.

"Oresteia? Is that age appropriate?" Ezra asked warily. Aria felt a little offended.

"I'm nearly seventeen, Ezra, I think I can deal with a little fictional murder." She argued as she rolled her eyes.

"No, no, I meant for Nathan." Ezra hastily explained. One thing Ezra learnt about Aria in the short time that they had been together was that she _hated_ being treated like a child. It was, in fact, the cause of their first almost fight. Ezra was poking fun at Aria for not understanding a piece on the news about tax, which Aria took to mean as him calling her immature, leading her to almost storm out before he managed to convince her he was joking.

"Oh." Aria sighed, relieved. A small smirk played on her features. "That shouldn't be a problem, as Nathan won't be with us. Noel's taking him for the night."

The next day, Aria and Ezra took great pleasure in sitting hand in hand at The Brew whilst they discussed Emily Brontë's presentation of the female experience in _Wuthering Heights._ Nathan sat in a high chair provided by the cafe, and was messily eating a banana that Aria had mashed up with a spoon for him. Just as Aria was making an interesting point about how Cathy is punished for her sexuality by death, Noel walked over to the table, his head down as if scared people would spot him.

"Pick him up at midday tomorrow, okay?" Noel said bluntly, before grimacing at Nathan's messy face. "Have you got a napkin or something? His face is disgusting."  
"Hey, Noel, it's great to see you too." Aria said dryly, fishing for a wet wipe in her purse before handing it to Noel. "You can drop him off at mine at four pm. I'm busy until then."

"Doing what, screwing my English teacher?" He sneered as if Ezra wasn't sitting a foot away from him. Ezra was at a loss on whether to intervene, having a feeling that Aria wouldn't appreciate it. He found it very hard to listen to his girl being talked to like that, though Aria didn't look as put off.

"Maybe, if we feel like it." She shrugged, making Ezra and Noel looking at her with shock.

"Aria." Ezra said gently, warning her not to say something she could regret. Noel had a strange smirk on his face, halfway between smug and insulted.

"When did you become such a slut?" He asked cruelly. This clearly got to Aria, as her previously confident face fell, and she looked down to the floor in embarrassment. Now Ezra _had_ to intervene.

"Mr Kahn, I'd think about what I was saying if I were you." He warned, holding Noel's steely glaze. Noel let out an empty, rueful chuckle, holding his hands up.

"Hey, man, I never said it was a bad thing. I just wish she was more like that when _we_ were together." Noel winked. A shiver ran down Ezra's spine.

"Take Nathan and leave, Noel." Ezra ordered. "You don't deserve him." He muttered under his breath as he watched Noel clumsily lift Nathan out of the high chair. Noel didn't seem to hear, but Aria clearly did, as she gently nudged his arm.

"Leave it." Aria whispered. "He's not worth it, and it could get you in trouble."

Once Noel gathered all of Nathan's things, he turned to Ezra, a cold look in his eye.

"You're sick." Noel accused, and then turned to Aria, leaning in so close that she could smell the spearmint gum he was always chewing. "And you…" He said, pausing for dramatic effect before pulling back, shaking his head and laughing. Nathan was crying in his stroller, reaching his arms out in Aria's direction and making protestation noises as Noel started to push him away. Aria tried her hardest to keep her composure and gave a small wave to Nathan, blowing him a kiss.  
"I love you, Nathy." She murmured, but he had already left the Brew. Ezra shifted his chair round to be right next to Aria, holding her close and stroking her back in comfort.

"You know," She said quietly. "I can never sleep when Noel has him. I spend all night tossing and turning and just _praying_ that he's being looked after. It's funny, I yearn for a night off but when I get one I spend the whole time wishing it was over."

Ezra kissed the top of her head, feeling that he wouldn't be able to give any words of wisdom seeing as he had never been in the situation. He felt his shirt dampen, signalling that Aria was crying.

"We don't have to go to the show, if you don't want to." He comforted. Aria pulled away from Ezra's chest and took a deep breath, wiping away her tears.

"No, I want to. I'll be okay in a minute, I just… really miss him, you know?" She asked and Ezra nodded, wishing there was something he could do. He thought to how much he missed Aria during the day, and could only imagine that what she was feeling was a hundred times worse. Not wanting to say the wrong thing, Ezra tried to communicate everything he wanted to say in the way he held her, hoping his strong hold says ' _It's okay, we're in this together_ '.

A few hours later, and Aria and Ezra were on their way to the theatre. Hand in hand they strolled, discussing how they thought the director would modernise the ancient Greek legend, pointing out particular aspects that may be difficult. Ezra used his free hand to animatedly illustrate his points, flinging it wildly in the air with a light in his eyes. Aria thought it was adorable, and wondered whether that was what he looked like whilst teaching a class about a book he loved.

"I think what will be _really_ interesting is how they manage to make some of the morals relevant to a contemporary- oh crap." Ezra stopped short in the middle of his sentence, and Aria felt his hand let go of hers. Confused, she followed his gaze until her eyes fell upon a herd of students and a few faculty members of Rosewood High. They were over 10ft away and were queuing for the theatre and therefore had their backs turned to the couple, but that did not stop the panic in Ezra's eyes.

"I guess they must be doing a field trip." Aria shrugged, reaching for his hand again. Ezra flinched and faked a cough, covering his mouth and avoiding the proposed hand hold. Aria frowned at his behaviour whilst Ezra averted eye contact, suddenly finding the floor very fascinating.

"Ezra?" Aria questioned, trying to get him to look her in the eyes. He remained fixated on the pavement.

"Are you thirsty? I'm thirsty. Let's go buy a drink before we go in." He said in a hushed voice as if he didn't want anyone to hear him. Just as Aria was about to point out that they sold drinks at the theatre, she was interrupted.

"Mr Fitz, are you chaperoning the trip too?" A perky voice called out. Aria and Ezra looked to the source, seeing Mona Vanderwall standing with an innocent smile on her face. Ezra scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat.

"No, uhm, I'm here… I'm here with…" He fumbled, looking around almost like he was looking for someone to pretend to be with.

"He's here with me." Aria interrupted bluntly, the hurt and confusion clear in her tone. Ezra gulped involuntarily.

"Oh, Aria, I didn't see you there!" Mona exclaimed, although her statement was most likely untrue, seeing as she was right next to Ezra. "Wow, you're doing a great job losing that baby weight- almost there! Speaking of which, where is Ethan?"

"Nathan." Aria corrected defensively. "And he's with Noel."

"And you're here… with Mr Fitz…" Mona said slowly and unsurely, like the concept highly confused her. "Wait, why _are_ you here with Mr Fitz?"

At this point, Mrs Welch walked over from her place in the queue. _Oh great_ , Ezra thought, _this could not get any better._

"Uhh, I'm tutoring her in English. We thought it would be valuable to see some of the literature come to life." Ezra said quickly, ignoring the eye daggers from Aria.

"Mona, please stick with the group." Mrs Welch instructed, before turning her attention to Ezra and Aria. "Ezra, what a lovely surprise!" She exclaimed, stretching her arms out for a hug. Ezra awkwardly leant in and quickly retreated, her strong perfume overwhelming his senses.  
"Indeed." He said flatly. Mrs Welch suspiciously eyed Aria, strongly suspecting that the girl had a little crush on her English tutor. _How sweet_ , she thought with a coy smile.

"Aria, it's lovely to see you out and about. How are you doing?" She asked sympathetically, in the same voice that most adults used on Aria these days.  
"Fine, thank you." Aria said in a forced sweet voice, before turning to Ezra. "Well, _Mr Fitz_ , we better get in line."

Aria was giving Ezra the silent treatment all the way through the enormous queue. It seemed to Ezra that everyone in Rosewood had brought their friends, family and dog along to see this show. And of course, they were stood directly behind the jocks, a.k.a the friends of Noel who knew about Aria and Ezra's relationship.

"Slut." One hissed in the disguise of a cough, resulting in a snickering from the rest of the group. Aria remained steely eyed and pretended not to have heard. When Ezra tried to place a hand on her shoulder she shrugged it away.

"Who would have thought; Aria Montgomery sleeping her way into college." Another sneered supposedly quietly, but it was obvious he intended for her to hear. Ezra's hands curled into fists.

"Do you want me to say something?" Ezra asked quietly. Aria refused to look at him, instead staring straight on.  
"Is that something an _English tutor_ would do?" She asked harshly, making Ezra want to punch himself in the face.

During the play, as Aria watched the tragedy unfold in front of her, she thought that maybe she was being a little overdramatic about Ezra. Of course he was going to find it uncomfortable at first being affectionate with his student's former classmates in front of them, but she was sure it was just a gut reaction. After all, he did try to comfort her in the queue, right? As the scene where the protagonist killed his daughter began, Aria rested her head on Ezra's shoulder, seeking comfort. As she watched it all she could imagine was being in the character's position and having to do that to Nathan, the mere thought making her want to cry. To her dismay, Ezra instantly jerked it away, looking around for students or colleagues. Aria huffed and turned her body away from Ezra, and decided that as soon as the interval began she would go home. She was enjoying the show, but not enough to put up with Ezra's asshole-ness.

The lights went up and Aria collected her purse before standing. Ezra didn't look too bothered, much to Aria's annoyance.

"Are you going to the restroom?" He asked distractedly, eyeing up Mrs Wallins who he was _sure_ was giving him a dirty look. Aria scowled and crossed her arms.

"No, I'm going home." She said bluntly, swiftly turning round.

"Aria, wait!" He suddenly exclaimed as he stood up and touched her arm.

"What? I don't want to embarrass you further." She glowered. Ezra ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry. I just… you have to understand tha-"

"That what? That you're fine being with me as long as it's behind closed doors? I don't want to be your dirty little secret, Ezra." She ranted.

"Hey, I'm thinking of _you_ too, here. You heard how those boys were talking about you. I don't want people thinking you're a slut." Ezra argued, trying to keep his voice down so as not to attract attention to themselves.

"I don't _care_ what other people think, I care what _you_ think, and it looks like you think our relationship is shameful." Aria did her best at not letting her emotions seep through her voice, but Ezra could tell she was on the verge of tears and he hated himself for it.

"Of course I don't think that." He promised, but Aria didn't seem convinced. "Aria, I'm sorry, I was an asshole."

"Yeah, you were." She agreed with a scowl.

"Don't leave, at least watch the rest of the show." He begged. " _I'll_ leave if you want me to, but don't miss the play because of me."

Aria bit her lip, clearly conflicted. Sighing deeply, she nodded.

"Okay, I'll stay until the end, but I don't know how much longer I can go with you dropping my hand like a hot potato." She grimaced. Ezra held his hand out, and Aria looked at it curiously.

"Hold my hand." He instructed softly. Aria hesitantly reached out to gently place her hand in his. He immediately held it tight, stroking her with his thumb. "Now close your eyes." He said quietly. Aria obeyed, but not before giving him a questioning look. Once her eyes were closed she felt Ezra's soft lips brush against hers tentatively. She opened her eyes, half expecting him to be looking around over his shoulder in case anyone saw them, but instead he was staring straight at her with apologetic eyes.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me." He said in little more than a whisper. Aria looked to the floor and then back at Ezra, and before he knew it her lips were on his, kissing him passionately. Ezra wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in closer, not even thinking about the entire class of his students who were sitting rows in front of them, many of whom were watching closely. Mrs Welch wrinkled her nose in disgust, shh-ing the whooping jocks. Eventually Ezra pulled away, slightly breathless.

"I forgive you." Aria smiled, before spotting something out of the corner of her eye. "But I'll forgive you even more if you go get me one of those ice creams."


End file.
